


To Begin Anew

by ChummyChewChew



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Death, FLARP, Grubs (Homestuck), Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Re zero spin off, Tags May Change, relationships added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-02-27 11:42:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 75,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13247523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChummyChewChew/pseuds/ChummyChewChew
Summary: He was floating in a dark and featureless void. Thoughts and memories drifted around him in a blurred haze. Feelings, sounds, smells, and so much more seemed to float just out of his reach. Where was he? Who was he? Was this even real? He looked around, looking for something that stood out. He spotted a memory, brighter and clearer than the other memories in the distance. He awkwardly started to swim towards it. Progress was slow but steady.Suddenly, a memory winked out of existence. Shocked, he looked around to find that all the other memories were dissapring, too. Some simply disappearing while other slowly dissolved into the void. Panicked, he redoubled his effort, desperately trying to reach the fading orb. He had to reach it before it disappeared forever! He was so close; it was just of reach! He lunged for it, but it still remained just out of reach! No! It was so close! He had to reach it! The golden memory was almost nonexistent now! But, he refused to give up! He kept pushing towards the memory, inching ever so slowly towards it. He had to reach it! There! He had it in his grasp now! The memory was a name! And, not just any name, it was his name! His name wa-





	1. The Grub Trials Part One

He was floating in a dark and featureless void. Thoughts and memories drifted around him in a blurred haze. Feelings, sounds, smells, and so much more seemed to float just out of his reach. Where was he? Who was he? Was this even real? He looked around, looking for something that stood out. He spotted a memory, brighter and clearer than the other memories in the distance. He awkwardly started to swim towards it. Progress was slow but steady. 

Suddenly, a memory winked out of existence. Shocked, he looked around to find that all the other memories were dissapring, too. Some simply disappearing while other slowly dissolved into the void. Panicked, he redoubled his effort, desperately trying to reach the fading orb. He had to reach it before it disappeared forever! He was so close; it was just of reach! He lunged for it, but it still remained just out of reach! No! It was so close! He had to reach it! The golden memory was almost nonexistent now! But, he refused to give up! He kept pushing towards the memory, inching ever so slowly towards it. He had to reach it! There! He had it in his grasp now! The memory was a name! And, not just any name, it was his name! His name wa- 

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Something in front of him suddenly broke with a loud crack and before he knew it he was falling forward, away from the confines of his mysterious prison. The first sensation he felt was a cool air that greeted him as soon he broke through whatever had been encasing him a moment earlier. The second was a sense of pride and accomplishment. He may not have known what he just broke out of, but he couldn’t help but feel that his escape was a milestone of sorts. The third was the ground as he found himself face-planting against it.

The sudden shock of pain sent him reeling and he found himself thrashing around on the ground. What was left of his prison was kicked off in his thrashing. In the middle of his throes, he opened his eyes for the first time in his new life. Unfortunately, his eyes only saw a heavy darkness, as if he hadn't opened his eyes at all. The darkness all-encompassing, hiding all kinds of potential threats, sending a deep pang of fear into being. He opened his mouth, taking large, deep gulps of air. He promptly used that air to scream at the top his lungs. His shrill scream pierced the darkness, echoing in the distance. He kept screaming and screaming into the darkness as if the sound alone could fight it back. Finally, when his throat was too sore to scream and his body too drained to move, he flopped on his stomach, resting his chin on the cold stone floor. 

Despite his exhaustion, his eyes continued to scan darkness, searching for any danger. To his surprise the darkness was slowing ebbing away, revealing more of his surroundings. He was in a large cavern made of a dark stone. The walls and floor were unnaturally smooth. He could make out strange broken orbs scattered about the chamber, but it was too dark to make out any details about them. Luckily, it seemed there weren’t any immediate threats around. 

After resting for a while longer, he felt like it was time to get moving. Some deep instinctual part of him was urging him he had to leave this place, that he had to reach the next stage of his life. He gathered his strength and tried to hoist himself to his feet, but he collapsed with a surprised squeak when he put his weight on his legs. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and get a feel for his body. Speaking of with, his body felt odd. It felt like his body in the wrong shape completely.He tried to crane his neck to see his body, but he couldn’t quite twist his neck far enough to catch a glimpse of anything. Instead, he decided to wiggled his body around, getting a feel for it. His body felt too long and made up of round, squishy segments. Next, moved his legs experimentally, getting a feel for them. The first thing he noticed was that it felt like he had way too many of them. He had three pairs of them along the side of his body, a pair at each segment and six in total. His legs were like stubby featureless claws. This didn't feel right. Wasn’t he supposed to have hands? Wait, what were hands, anyway? Pushing these odd thoughts out of his mind, he decided he learned enough about this strange body and tried to get up again. He planted his legs firmly on the ground and pushed, managing to get on his feet. When he got to his feet a sudden heavy weight pitched his head forward. He found himself stumbling forward due to the unexpected weight. He caught himself and balanced his head before he could land face first again. The newfound weight on his head was attached to his head, but he couldn’t figure out what they were. Wait, shouldn’t he also be higher off the ground? He shrugged it off...Well, as much as you could shrug without shoulders. He had wasted enough time here. He needed to get moving.

Now that he was up, the next step was to take his first step. Wait, how do you walk with these many legs? One leg at a time? Two at a time? Tentatively, he started to by moving his front two legs, followed by the next pair and the last pair after that. Soon enough, walking started to come naturally, and, before he knew it, he was making steady progress around the chamber. In his search for where to go next, he came across one of the imperfect orbs. Curiosity got the best of him, so he decided to see what these orbs were. Even with his adjusted vision, he couldn’t make out its color, but he could see that its surface was smooth. The orb was just a bit smaller than him. He could probably fit inside it if he curled himself up. He walked around the orb and saw a large cracked hole in its thick shell. He cautiously peered inside it. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. The orb was empty. Another strange thought came to mind. Egg? What was an egg? He literally shook his head trying to get these thoughts out of his mind. He had already wasted way too much time on these stupid and random thoughts. He had to get going. He turned away from the egg and continued his search for some kind of exit.

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The large tunnel in front of him was huge, easily dwarfing him. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared into the tunnel that seemed to stretch on forever, so far that it faded into the darkness. Had walked across the chamber until he reached a wall. After that, he started to walk along the smooth stone wall. The wall was surface was bare save for an occasional hole bored into it. The holes were too smooth to be natural. All the holes were about his size, but they did vary slightly. The holes weren’t that far off the ground. If he wanted to, he could probably climb inside one of the bigger ones, but even the biggest one could prove difficult with the strange weight attached to his head, so he decided to try to find a different exit. Thus he found himself in front of the large tunnel. Steeling himself and marched onwards towards the darkness.  
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He flopped on his stomach, exhausted and breathing heavily. He knew the tunnel would stretch on for a while, but this was ridiculous! He had been walking for what seemed like an eternity. The tunnel had been void of anything of notice, not even the eggs or any of the smaller tunnels in the wall. This was terrible! His weird claw-legs things ached, he was out of breath, and worst of all, there were these annoying footsteps echoing in the chamber, getting closer all the time!…Wait...footsteps!? The footsteps were coming from the darkness ahead of him. He looked around frantically for something! Anything! But, there was nothing around but pebbles.Too late! Two shadowy figures with strange shapes on their heads emerged from the darkness; one tall and thin, the other shorter and plumber. He spun around to run, but the taller one swept him up in one swift and graceful movement without either of them breaking their stride. She tucked him to Its side with one arm, facing away from his captor. He tried squirming, but her grip remained strong and steady. He couldn’t even manage a decent squirm, but that didn't stop him from trying or squeaking at the top of his little lungs. 

Suddenly, he heard something strange from the figure holding him. Something familiar but alien at the same time…Words...they were words. Words that were just like the strange thoughts that frequently surfaced in his mind.

‘“Shoosh, little one,” the figure cooed in a feminine voice, gently stroking his head. For a moment, he forgot about the cavern and everything about them. He let himself go limp in his captor’s grip and enjoyed the gentle petting.

“You know, we’re not supposed to interfere with the grubs,” the shorter one said, a hint of annoyance in an otherwise monotone voice. He perked up at the sound of the second figure and started to listen to their conversation

“Oh, you’re no fun. What’s the harm in helping this little ol’ grub?” the taller on teased. 

“You know full well why. If any weak grubs survive long enough, they could end up spreading their weakness into a future clutch. Not to mention the drain on resources, especially this one due to its high blood,” she retorted.

“Don’t worry, miss Fussy Fangs. Maybe the grub just got a little turned around out there. Besides, this little grub hasn’t even gotten to the hard part of the Grub Trials yet. He still needs to survive long enough to pupate and reach his adult molt.”

The shorter one sighed in defeat. “Fine, but if we get caught, you’re the one that’s going on the culling block.”

The two walked in silence for a few moments before fussy fangs leaned in and whispered, ”hey, have you heard? This clutch actually has a Fuchsia blood. And, if that wasn’t enough, the Condesce herself ordered that the Fuchsia blood be delivered to her old Lusus, Gl'bgolyb itself!” She couldn’t stop her voice from rising at the end.

The taller one was silent for a moment before responding. “Yeah, I heard,” she tried to whisper, but doing a poor job of it. “I also heard that an actual Virgin Mother Grub chose to be a Lusus and they already had a Jade blood all lined up for it and everything! What about those meteors that crashed? Those meteors were under pretty intense investigation. Do ya think they have anything to do with the grubs?”

“I don’t know, but I do know that I don’t like it one bit”, she said, nervousness starting to creep into her voice.” Enough of this! We’ll be culled for sure if anyone hears!

The taller one opened her mouth, about to retort, but decided against it. “But, you were the one who brought it up…” she grumbled under her breath.

Silence lapsed between the two for the rest away.  
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“Do you even remember which tunnels lead to a feeding chamber?”, fussy fangs asked as the two entered the egg chamber in much better time than the grub’s initial progress. 

“Of course I do! You think I hatched yesterday?”, the tall one replied. With that, the two continued across the chamber, avoiding the eggs.

“Hmm, looks like this grub hatched quite late. All the other eggs are empty and every other grub already left.”, fussy fangs said.

The duo stopped when they reached the chamber’s wall. “Are you sure it’s going to fit in one of the tunnels? His horns are quite large and it has four of them”, fussy fangs asked. Ahh, so that’s what's on my head, the grub thought.

“Ehh, we’ve seen bigger. ‘Member that bronze blood from earlier? Those horns were huge! If that grub could squeeze in, I’m sure this little guy can fit just fine.”, she said, waving off her concern with her free hand.

The figure holding him bent down to push him headfirst into one of the holes in the wall. Fussy fangs suddenly coughed before he was pushed into the small tunnel. The figure paused for a moment before moving him to another opening. Fussy fangs coughed again. Finally, he was pushed into a tunnel without a cough. Once the grub was in the tunnel, it hurriedly crawled inside and disappeared into the tunnel.

“There we go”,Fussy fangs said. “Now, let’s be off. We’ve wasted enough time on this grub. We still many other egg chambers to check.” With that, the two left.  
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Fussy fang’s comment about the horns did have some merit. His large horns, while not very sensitive, did have some feeling, and provided an uncomfortable jolt with every bump. He had to keep his head lowered and awkwardly crawl forward on his stomach to keep his horns away from the tunnel’s roof. And, even then he still occasionally bumped and scraped his horns at the top of the tunnel. Speaking of fussy fangs, it had been awhile since the duo helped him. Nowhere near as long as his trek in the large tunnel, but he had been walking considerable amount of time. His time with them had been odd, to say the least. He had understood most of what came out of there mouths, but some of what they said made no sense. What was all this talk about blood? Who was this Condesce they were talking about? From how they were talking about her, he guessed she was some kind of big deal around here. And, what about Gl'bgolyb? Apparently having whatever that was as a Lusus was also some kind of big deal, too. The grub had also tried to copy what the two said along the way, but all he could manage were high pitched squeaks, chirps, and clicks. He was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that his vision seemed to improve since he had begun crawling through the tunnel. Suddenly, the grub perked up. There was an opening ahead. He hurried forward and poked his head out from the opening. His breath caught in his throat what the chamber held.

It was much larger than the egg chamber from earlier. Large pools of water clustered in the center. Patches of what looked to be pale green moss grew on the chamber floor, mostly near the pools, but patches also grew sparsely elsewhere. stalactites covered the ceiling, some almost touching the floor, and the occasional stalagmites reached upwards. The most shocking sight were these small wriggling shapes. They were grubs! They were so many!

In his awe, he didn’t notice he was leaning closer and closer until- “Squeak!” He tumbled out of the tunnel flipping onto his back and landing with a solid thud, taking his breath away. The tunnel’s exit had been higher than the entrance, so the fall had been long. He quickly recovered and scrambled to his feet. He looked around to see if anybody was nearby, but most of the grubs were concentrated around the moss or the pools.

He finally got to see what other grubs looked like. The grubs didn't look very different from him. A round segmented body with simple black claw-like legs. The color of their bodies did vary, however. From burgundy to violet. Colors like burgundy, yellow and green seemed to be much more plentiful than the blues and purples. He was also amazed to see that the violet grubs with fins on their cheeks and tail-fins swimming in the pools and occasionally diving and emerging with some kind of small crustacean and eating them. He also noted that the more common colors seemed to cluster together away from the pools while the purples seemed to claim larges patches of moss near pools. Their heads didn't really match their bodies. While their bodies were clearly insectoid, they had eerily… human faces? Again, with these strange thoughts? Upon each head were multicolored horns. Orange at their base, followed by a lighter orange, and the tips were a yellowish orange. Some of their horns looked similar, but none were identical. Some were small and nubby while other were huge and sharp.

Having just exited one of the tunnels, he was on the outskirts of the chamber. He saw a small, secluded group of bronze and rust grubs huddled around a stay moss patch and began excitedly making his way there.

However, his excitement disappeared when a bronze grub caught sight of him. It suddenly shot up, lowered it’s head in his direction and growled deep and low, alerting the rest of the small group. Before he knew it, the group of grubs had gone from a docile to snarling and menacing.

He stepped back, shocked at the group’s sudden change. Slowly, the group had begun advancing towards him, teeth bared. He quickly turned and ran as fast as his little grub legs could carry him. He spotted a small ‘forest’ made up of stalagmites and stalactites in the outskirts of the chamber and raced in that direction. He looked back to see if the others were pursuing. While there were still hissing and growling, they seemed content to guard their moss patch. He finally reached the forest, rounded the corner so he would be out of sight, and tried to squeeze in through one of the gaps, but it was too small, especially with his horns. He didn’t give up. He kept pushing until he finally he slipped through. Once inside, he collapsed on the surprising soft floor, panting heavily. He was safe, for now.

Without getting up, he looked around the stone forest. The rock formed a kind of circular chamber, the walls made up of stalagmites and stalactites. The walls weren't perfect, of course. He wouldn’t have been able to enter otherwise. The walls were filled with gaps, the larger ones were big enough for a grub to fit, like the one he entered from. The smaller ones were just small enough to see out of. Despite the gaps, he was hidden well enough. It was also much roomier than expected. It could probably fit a dozen grubs with room to spare. The floor was covered in the same pale green moss from outside, hence the soft floor. Still laying down, he lowered his head, sniffing at the pale green moss curiously. The moss was odorless, thick, and spongy.

Suddenly, his froze, terror seizing his body. He heard a monstrous growling, deep and terrible-and it was coming from inside the chamber! Whatever it was, it was huge! Dangerous! And was-oh… it was coming from his stomach...

With that realization, he felt an unfamiliar hollow feeling, gnawing at him from within. Whatever this feeling was, he decided he did not like it one bit. Getting to his feet, he took another look around, hoping to find something to quell this strange empty feeling. Unfortunately, there was nothing around except for the...moss.

He lowered his head again, taking another sniff at the moss. Cautiously, he nipped at the moss, ripping out a little. He chewed slowly and cautiously. The moss was tasteless and spongy, and with every chew, water seeped out of the moss. Swallowing, he felt the hollow feeling ebb away slightly. With renewed vigor, he began swallowing mouthful after mouthful of moss.  
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Swallowing one last mouthful of moss, he let out a content sigh. The moss wasn’t very appetizing, but it was filling. He hadn't even put a dent in the moss, even after stuffing himself. He walked to the forest’s wall and peered out through the gaps towards the center of the cavern to see the other grubs.

It looked like the grubs seemed satisfied to stick to their respective territories. A sudden commotion caught his attention not too far from him. He turned to see a lone rust grub hissing at an approaching larger purple grub, apparently defending its moss patch. Any other grubs that were nearby shied away from the dispute. The purple grub continued, undeterred by the rust-colored grub’s growling, forcing it to back away. The rust grub suddenly turned to run, but the purple grub was too fast. It pounced on the rust grub’s back, pinning it down under its bulk, and, in one quick movement, bit the side of its neck with a sickening crunch. The rust grub let out a shrill scream and thrashed around, rust-colored blood bleeding profusely from its neck, but the purple grub held on tight. It’s struggling died down and the scream faded into a faint gurgling from its throat. The purple got off the grubs and bit down again on its neck again with another crunch. The rust grub jerked once more, let out one last gurgle, and remained motionless and soundless. The purpled grub than began dragging the rust grub away, its head lolling around on a crushed neck, leaving a trail of rust red blood on the moss. 

The grubs that were nearby now moved in on the now empty moss patch, eager to claim it as their own. The purple grub had dragged its bounty away, near one of the pools, among other purple grubs. The other purple grubs tried to move closer, but the original purple grub drove them away each time. The grub looked around, making sure the others weren’t close. Satisfied, the purple grub began to feast into the rust grub’s soft body with gusto, taking mouthful after mouthful of rusty red flesh.

He turned away, shocked to his very core. He felt bile rise at the back of his throat, disgusted from watching the purple grub tuck into the rust red grub with the same enthusiasm he had with the moss. He suddenly felt exhausted, and collapsed on the moss floor, falling into a dreamless sleep.  
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Time had little meaning in this cavern. The young grub simply ate when he was hungry and slept when he was tired. He rarely looked outside of his little abode and didn’t dare even try to venture out. Why would he? He was safe in his little forest of stone.Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to stop the sound. Sometimes, the sound of flesh tearing, bones crunching, screeching, and hissing would be so loud that they echoed all across the chamber. The worst, however, was when they seemed to come from right outside his little forest. These were the times where ha cowered, shut his eyes tight, and hoped that whatever was happening would pass soon. 

While there were some displays of friendship out there, grubs huddling together for warmth and safety and even occasionally playing, they were few and far between.

This was his life for awhile.  
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He awoke to the sound of nearby voices. Familiar voices.

“Ya think that there’s gonna be enough paint to go around this sweep? Doesn't look like we have a lot of grubs for paint.” It was fussy fang’s friend!

“Indeed. It seems we have a lack of suitable grubs for paint.” And that was fussy fangs!

He ran towards the wall of the forest, pressing his face against the wall, eager for his first good look at his one-time helpers. He got his first look at them.They were along the chamber wall. Near him, in fact.

Fussy fangs was short and a little plumb. She had cold gray skin, chubby cheeks, and stern jade eyes, well-kept jet black hair that ended just below her chin. Upon her head were a pair of tri-colored horns. They had a thick base, but thinned out, leaned forward and ended with a small hook.She wore a loose black blouse with large bell sleeves. Upon her neck and shoulder, she wore a small black jade striped cloak with thin translucent jade fabric hanging down to her ankles. She wore an ankle length pencil skirt with green stripes.

Like fussy fangs, she had the same cold grey skin, the same pitch black hair, and jade eyes. However, that was where the similarities ended. Unlike fussy fangs, she was tall and thin where fussy fangs was short and pudgy. Her jade eyes weren’t as hard as fussy fangs, being more carefree and easy. Her horns were simple tall and thin cylinders. She was clothed in a similar attire, only lacking the bell sleeves. Pared with fussy fangs, the differences between the two was almost comical.

However, the two weren’t alone. Behind them, a pair identical threatening beast towered over the two. Their entire body was encased in a thick and spiny bright red carapace. Their arms and legs were thin compared to the rest of their hulking bodies, but their carapace did have gaps, revealing a weaker looking gray at their joints. Their hands were surprisingly dexterous, each held a long simple red trident in their right hand and a large burlap sack slung over their other shoulder. Their massive shoulders were covered in a gray amour, with their red spines jutting out. Their heads were large, mouthless, flat, and oval shaped, narrowed to a point at the top, and facing outward. Along the sides of their heads were three large sets of red spikes that were angled upwards. Upon their face was a white trident design, the outer prongs curved along their oval heads, and the middle prong shot straight up its head. Their eyes were two white rectangular with slits, cold and ruthless.

Fussy fangs and her friend simply ignored the two hulking beasts, as if they weren’t even there.

The group then started moving, getting closer to his hiding spot. While fussy fangs and her friend moved elegantly and soundless through the chamber, the other two stomped along with heavy clangs, the robotic whine of their joints, and heaving torsos. Any nearby grubs scuttled away, hiding anywhere they could manage. As they neared, he noticed their tridents’ prongs were coated with colorful blood and the sacks were stained in a similar matter. He was shocked when the sack occasionally wiggled.

“There’s a grub. Go, drone,” fussy fangs said, nonchalantly pointing at a grub still trying to find a hiding spot in vain. 

The grub in question was cerulean and most of its legs were bent at awkward angles, most likely from a fight. When the grub realized it had caught their attention, it gave up on hiding and tried to scuttle away, but made poor progress due it’s injured legs.

The drone to her left immediately broke off from the group, heading for the grub. The grub redoubled its efforts, but a single step from the drone easily outpaced dozens of the grub’s diminutive steps. The drone reached the grub in no time and quickly used its trident to stab the grub- issuing an agonized shriek from it- and stuffing it into its burlap sack.

The rest of the group caught up to the now waiting drone and carried on as if nothing had happened. Fussy fangs and her friend continued their chatter.

He turned away, disappointed at the two. Despite their early kindness, they just as cold as the emotionless drones  
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He had been here for what felt like forever. Over that time, he went through a number of changes.

 

Physically, he had grown almost double his size and became quite lethargic. The moss he had been feeding on had been exhausted entirely to fuel his growth. Mentally, he had grown aloof. The sound of grubs fighting and occasionally dying once terrified him, but they just bored him now. Even the occasional visit from the drones didn’t phase him anymore. 

 

The change was just upon him either. The other grubs have grown, too. The fights between grubs have also steadily dwindled until they stopped entirely. The chamber had grown silent. 

I’m done here. I need to move on, he thought, pacing in circles. He had tried squeezing through the gaps, but he had grown far too large for that. He barely managed the first time around! Suddenly, something caught his eye. On one spot, the stalactites and stalagmites were thin and brittle looking. He experimentally knocked his head against, ignoring the jolt from his horns. Nothing. He tried again, harder this time.The stone shook and cracked a little, but he recoiled from the stronger jolt.

I’m was getting nowhere with this, he thought, sighing. If he was getting out of here anytime soon, he was just going to have to buckle down and keep going until his escape route was done. He braced himself and started ramming the stone with all the might his little grub body could muster. He fought through the pain, determined to finish. He felt the stone beginning to crumble under his horned assault. Finally, with one last ram, the stone fell apart.

He was carried along with the force of the blow and landed on his stomach, dazed from his headbutts. He got to his feet, shaking his head to clear his head. He looked around and saw that most of the other grubs were already gone. A group of about thirty stragglers were heading down a large tunnel. He quickly followed them. The group was made up of grubs of all colors. Strangely enough, it seemed that all the grubs were different in each other’s company. None of the grubs even so much as snapped at each other. Instead, every grub looked ahead and marched forward, undaunted.

He looked ahead to see what the other grubs were so focused on. The tunnel was devoid of anything of interest. Suddenly, he felt it. Another instinctual feeling pulling him, the same feeling that had told him to leave the chamber. He allowed his mind to relax and his instincts guide him.

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His instincts had guided him through the labyrinth. Luckily, the group hadn’t come across any dangers. Even if they were set upon by a predator, he doubted he could do anything with his sluggish body.

His stared at the cavern his instincts led him and the rest of the group to. It was vastly different from the others. First of all, it was considerably smaller than the others from before. The chamber had a low ceiling with large stalactites. It’s walls and floors were simply smooth stone. It looked like most of the other grubs had gone elsewhere, safe for his small group. Among the stalactites were a few strange chrysalises, a bit bigger than a grub. The chrysalises were vaguely grub shaped, smooth, and shared the same colors as grub blood.

Guided by his instincts, he began crawling up the stalactites. He found that his small legs were well suited to the task. His climbed by hugging the stalactites and slowly crawled upwards by moving his legs one set at a time. The other grubs were doing the same.

Once he was nestled among the stalactites, he felt a thick and viscous substance rise from the depths of his body rise up his throat. The substance rapidly filled his mouth and caused his cheeks to swell. Whatever it was, it had a slimy texture, was unpleasantly hot, and tasted burnt and bitter. He spat out the substance on the stalactites. The substance was a thick purple ooze and stuck to the stone. But, it didn’t end there. Whatever the vile goo was kept coming, and he continued to spit it up on the stone. The ooze quickly congealed when he spat it out. Soon enough, the stone was coated with a thick layer of the purple ooze. Almost robotically, he carefully maneuvered around the stalactites around the, adding to the ooze. Soon, he had built a chrysalis with an opening just big enough to fit himself in. He looked around one last time before entering. Some of the other grubs were already inside their chrysalis. Most were just putting in there finishing touches on theirs. Finally, he backed into the chrysalis. Once he was nestled in, he sealed the opening with one last bout of ooze.

 

Once he was inside, he blinked. A wave of exhaustion washed over him. The journey and the building of the chrysalis took a lot out of him. He let out a yawn and closed his eyes, letting sleep take him.

He heard an artificial voice right before his conscious faded.

‘“Commence school feeding”


	2. The Grub Trials Part Two

It was time. He didn’t know how he knew. He just knew.

He began thrashing around his prison. His kicks and punched did little to free him, but his horns tore at the wall with ease. As he put his horns to use tearing the walls, a sudden thought occurred to him. Wait a minute...wasn't I on the ceiling? Oh, fuck! He tried to stop himself from further damaging the chrysalis, but it was too late. The chrysalis was too damaged to support his weight anymore. The rest of the chrysalis gave way beneath him, and he plummeted to the floor below, limbs flailing as he fell. 

“Oof,” he gasped when he hit the ground and laid still. Thankfully, the fall was short, but it was an uncomfortable landing all the same. He took a moment to get his bearings before getting up.

While laying down, he noticed the tips of four horns in the corners of his vision. He raised his hands t- wait, hands! His horns forgotten at the sight of the two five-fingered hands in front of him, replacing his claw-like appendages from earlier. He turned his hands, examining every inch. The skin on his hands was was smooth, thick and rubbery. His fingernails were a dark yellow and sharp.

When he was finished looking at his arms, he turned slightly and pushed himself off the ground and to his feet, albeit a bit unsteadily. Once upright, it all started coming back to him. His head was swirling with knowledge, both new and old. He took a moment to process this new newfound information. _Alright, so, I’m in the brooding caverns. I just finished my first molt, but it’s not over yet,_ he thought. He cast a look down at himself. He had grown considerably larger than his grubself, but he was still quite small and scrawny. His six legs had gone down to two fully formed legs and feet and a set of arms.A pair of grub scars marred his skin just where his chest ended and stomach began. The scars were thin, purple shallow marks that ran along his side and gently sloped upwards towards the center of his chest.

Finally done examining himself, he cast a look around the cavern. Empty. All the other chrysalis were torn open and empty. He was the last one in the room. He spotted an odd-looking device in the center of the room and a smaller metal crate next to it. The device looked like an advanced computer. It was large, cubic and pure white-a stark contrast to the dark stone of the tunnels. He wasn’t actually tall enough to get a good look at the monitor or keyboard. He stood up on the tips of his toes, and just managed to catch a glimpse of the bold text on the screen.

**School Feeding Completed Awaiting Terminal Retrieval ******

_This must be the school feeding machine, _he thought. He then turned to the crate next to it. The crate’s led was slightly askew. He tentatively lifted the lid and took a look inside. The crate was divided into a larger compartment and a smaller compartment. Inside the larger compartment were a few neatly folded black jumpsuits. It looked like most of them were taken. He grabbed the top jumpsuit by the shoulders and, with a flick of the wrist, took it out the crate and unfolded it in front of him. The jumpsuit was bland and featureless, even lacking pockets, but it did have boots attached. He ran his fingertips along the sleeve. The fabric was cheap and scratchy. He unzipped the flimsy zipper it and slipped it on, feet first.__

____

____

Once it was on, he moved his arms and legs around experimentally, testing out the jumpsuit. The jumpsuit proved to be too large for him. It hung off his thin frame and the sleeves cover his hand entirely. The attached boots were large and uncomfortable, made of a thin and malleable rubber. Well, a loose jumpsuit is better than a tight one, I guess, he thought, rolling up his sleeves as high as he could. It was obvious the clothing was made as cheaply as possible.

He looked back at the smaller compartment. The smaller held black plastic collars. He picked one up and gingerly turned it around in his hands, examining it. The collar was too big to fit properly, but its size could be adjusted. Its surface was completely smooth, save for a small speaker on the side. He took a deep breath and exhaled. It was now or never. He placed it on his neck, adjusted its size, and clipped it on tight-a little too tight. 

As soon as it was locked on, the speaker suddenly sprung to life. “Congratulations on reaching your first molt.” Whoever it was, they sounded bored and uninterested. The voice paused and was replaced with shuffling of paper and unintelligible muttering. The voice continued, although this time slower, as if reading a script.

“But, your journey isn’t over yet. You’ll still need to reach the ceremonial brooding caverns to have the chance to be chosen by a Lusus. After that, you'll have the amazing opportunity to join the marvelous…” The voice trailed off. He heard another bout of shuffling and the sound of faint arguing.

“Come on, really? Who wrote this shit!? You don’t expect me to read this crap... I don’t care... Just use what’s already recorded-” The sound suddenly cut out.

Another voice sounded just as suddenly as before. This time, it was artificial.

“Six hours until end of grub trial.”

He swallowed nervously-something he found difficult with the collar around his throat. That wasn’t a lot of time. He walked to the exit. _Well, it’s now or never,_ he thought. With that, he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_I’m not lost, nope. I’m totally in control of the situation. I know exactly where I am and where to go. Yup, totally not lost._

He had been slinking his way through these caverns for who knows how long. The tunnels were a baffling labyrinth of twist and turns, and his eyes could only see so far into the darkness. Often, he often stumbled over rocks that his eyes failed to spot. Luckily, he hasn't had the displeasure of running into any predators yet. With every tunnel looking identical and no distinguishing features, a lesser troll could spend an eternity going in circles. Not him though. If anything, this would be too easy... 

He picked a tunnel at random and headed down there. After a short walk, the tunnel opened up into a large chamber. Finally, something different, he thought as he entered the chamber. A natural stone bridge laid ahead of him. The ground below was so far that it faded into the darkness. It wasn’t much, but it was a nice break from the endless monotonous tunnels, at least. He decided it was time to take a breather. He took a seat at the edge of the bridge, slowly kicking his legs, unfazed by the height.

He let out a large sigh. It was nice to get off his feet, even if it was just for a moment. It was hard to tell time in this damned maze. If he had to guess, he must of have traveling through these tunnels for about two hours. That left him only four hours to find the ceremonial brooding cavern. “Well, better get a move on. Not getting any closer just sitting on my ass,” he muttered under his breath. He stood up, ready to continue.

**Crack!**

He whipped around as fast as he could, eyes straining against the cavern’s gloom. He only managed to see a few rock fall into the chasm below, creating more cracks as they hit the unseen ground below. Fear and uncertainty gnawed at his stomach. Something had to have made moved those knocked over those rocks. Rocks don’t just move on their own, right? Right?!

He backed up slowly, still searching for the culprit. Once he reached the other side of the bridge, he took off running as fast as his legs could carry him.

It was toying with him. At any moment it could end this charade of a hunt with a pounce and a swift bite from its jaws. Sometimes, it lumbered after him, growling and making as much noise as possible. Other times, it would seemingly disappear long enough that he would think he lost it, only to feel it’s hot breath on the back of his neck when it ran silently up to him. He never looked back and never stopped running, choosing tunnels at random. Soon, he would have to stop. His breathing was growing ragged and his legs felt like they were full of lead. It knew this, too. It was beginning to tire of its little game. He could feel it.

He didn’t want to die! It wasn’t fair. It wa- the ground abruptly ended beneath him. He plummeted down a large pit he failed to notice. He tumbled down the almost completely vertical rock wall. Whatever was chasing him let out a deep and guttural roar, enraged at losing its meal. Hearing its anger gave him a grim sense of satisfaction as he fell. If if the fall killed him, at least the monster would be robbed of its meal.

This was his last thought when a particularly nasty blow against a ledge knocked him unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pain. That was the first sensation he felt when he came to. Everything from the tips of his horns to the tips of his toes ached horribly. 

He slowly cracked his eyes open and gasped at what he saw. Above him was a strangely beautiful glowing clear crystal, marred only by an odd blob. It took him a second to realize that the blob was his reflection distorted beyond recognition. He tried to get up but yelped in pain when he tried to put weight on his left arm and his right leg to a lesser degree. He tried again, this time making sure to keep any weight off the injured arm and ignoring the pain from the rest of his body.

Finally on his feet, he could get a good enough look at his injuries bathed in the crystal's strange glow. The jumpsuit was in tatters and one boot was torn off completely. His body was covered with a myriad of bruises and cuts. He felt a terrible pain on the top of his head and something cold and sticky on his forehead. His felt a sharp pain in his leg when he put weight on it, but it was bearable. The arm was the worst of his injuries. The elbow was swollen and the bone within pushed from the inside, forming a very noticeable bump. 

He looked around the.tunnel. He had fallen in through a large hole in the ceiling, The tunnel was breathtaking. All along the wall and floors grew white multifaceted crystals grew like spires, illuminating the tunnel with their dull light.

_Wow, this place sure is beautiful. Too bad I don’t have time to stand around, looking at crystals. After all, I still have my grub trials to complete...The Grub trials! How long was I out! How much time do I have left!_

With these thoughts racing through his mind, he limped as fast as his injured body could. As he limped forward, the crystals reflected and distorted his being.

Suddenly, he froze. Directly in front of him was a troll! He jumped back and the troll mirrored him. The troll in front of him, quite frankly, looked like shit. Seriously, the troll looked like an absolute wreck. It was like...oh... It was just his reflection on a crystal. Relief flooded him at the realization along with a sense of stupidity. 

He took another look at his reflection, mesmerized. For the first time in his young life, he saw his own face. He saw gray skin covered in scratches and bruise, chubby cheeks, pronounced cheekbones and sharp chin. His thin black lips were parted slightly by his sizable and sharp teeth. He had a small nose, large curved eyebrows, and pointed ears. A large unsightly purple gash ran across his forehead. The wound was an ugly mess of dark congealed blood and torn skin. Most of his forehead was covered in the sticky and cold purple blood, as well. Nestled in a thick mop of unruly and coarse black hair were four large tri-colored horns. One pair jutted out diagonally before curving forward. Just below sprouted another pair of horns that curve forward with the tips bent downward sharply. He found himself staring at the reflection of his own eyes. Pitch black pupils amongst a dark yellow. So young, yet they were already hard and steely.

He found his eyes drawn back to the gash. More specifically, his purple blood.

 _So, that settles that, huh...I’m a purple blood. Not bad, I guess…_ There had been sighs, sure, but this was his first time seeing his naked purple blood.

Something didn’t feel right. The reflection before him was definitely his, but it just didn’t feel right. He was a purple blood! If he was school fed properly, that meant that he was the highest blood on land, surpassed by only the sea dwellers. He should be ecstatic…! But, it just didn’t seem right, none of it did. The horns, the skin, the eyes, and the purple blood. It was just so wrong, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

A sudden flicker of movement brought out his musing. He spun around, searching for the source. Another flicker of movement in the corner of his vision-nothing. Soon, he was surrounded by several blurs of movement. He looked all around the crystal cavern, trying to found out what they were, fear rising within him. 

Realization dawned on him. It was the crystals! The crystals were reflecting and multiplying whatever was stalking him. The beast made a familiar guttural growl. It was the beast from earlier! It seemed that the beast took losing its meal personally. 

“Oh, come on! Really!” he shouted.

He turned and hobbled away as fast as he could. All around him, the crystal’s flashed with movement. There was no way to find out where his unknown assailant was, let alone what it even was.

As he limped, he cursed at his attacker.

“Fuck you! Why the fuck do you have to go after me!? There's tons of other fucking trolls to eat here! Fuck! Why me!?

With a crash, a shadow leaped from the darkness in front of him, head lowered and teeth bared. He screamed, stumbling backward and landing on his butt. Finally, his assailant was out in the open, and he could get a good look at it. Unfortunately, this also meant that it was ready to finish this little game.

The beast that had been plaguing him was a large lithe feline. It’s sleek dark fur blended well with the darkness, practically melding it with the shadows. Its lips were peeled back, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs. The beast was salivating, having it meal denied for far too long.

He tried scooting backward with his legs and one good arm until his back was pressed against the wall, too afraid to even utter a sound. The beast slowly followed after him, growling.

This was it. He was going to die. His story was going to end before it even began. He shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the end. He only hoped the end would be quick.

As he waited, he felt something grow from the pit his stomach. It wasn’t fear. It burning hot and all-consuming. It grew and grew until it felt like his rage would explode from inside his body. Rage and adrenaline pumped through his veins. His eyes snapped open, snarling definitely at the beast.

“Just fucking die!” he shouted at the beast.

The beast paused for a moment, amused. It continued only to stop again. Space around it began to distort. The beast's head darted left and right, frightened by the strange distortion. Space continued to distort until- **Boom!** The beast exploded in a deafening blast of intense purple fire, red blood and gore flew in every direction. The shockwave forced him against the wall; it would have knocked him off if feet if he wasn’t already on his on his butt.

He got to his feet using the wall as support and ears ringing from the blast. The sickeningly sweet scent of burnt flesh invaded his nostrils. He wiped the warm blood from his eyes and looked where the beast stood just a moment before. The ground was scorched and chunks of charred flesh were scattered around. The beast was completely destroyed. It was impossible to find out what kind of animal the remains belonged to.

“It’s dead…” he whispered to himself in disbelief. Somehow, he had managed to kill it with that strange purple fire. He didn’t know how he summoned the purple flames, or even if he could do it again.

Before he could celebrate, an intense migraine brought him back to reality. He cradled his head in his hands, trying to resist the debilitating pain. He shook it off and focused on the task at hand.

_Still need to pass the grub trial. I’ll be culled if I don’t pass. No time to waste._

He continued to hobble his way through the tunnels, leaving the remains of the beast behind.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Eventually, the glittering crystals gave way to the drab grey he'd grown far too accustomed to. _If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m gonna lose my damn mind, he thought._

He was close to collapsing at this point. The adrenaline from his earlier encounter had left his system entirely by now. At this point, he felt more like a corpse, than a living troll. He fought through his body's protest and practically dragged himself onward. He was only accompanied by the rhythmic thud of his booted foot and slap of his bare foot. He could barely keep his head upright and his eyes were downcast.

He forced himself to look up and noticed a faint glow in the distance. He hesitated. Whatever the glow was could be dangerous. He doubted he could survive another encounter with a predator; he barely survived the beast from earlier and he got lucky then, but it was also his only choice.

He took a deep breath and exhaled and limped towards the light. He kept himself close to the wall to stay out of sight. As he crept closer, he peered into the entrance. This chamber was the biggest of any of the other ones he encountered. This chamber was actually lit by torches on the wall. The far end of the room led to a large body of water. 

He couldn’t believe what he saw next. There sitting nonchalantly on a rock was fussy fangs, checking her nails with a bored expression. Behind her, a drone loomed over her. He couldn’t tell if it one of the drones from earlier. If they were any differences between drones, he couldn't find them. _Wow. What are the chances of that?_

He steeled himself and stepped into the chamber. Fussy fangs looked up from her nails as soon as he entered. Her bored expression didn’t leave her face as she stood up. She dusted herself off and walked towards him, drone in tow.

He froze, just like he did with the beast. She didn’t look as menacing as the beast, but now that she was focused solely on him, he noticed she had an intimidating and overwhelming air about her. When she reached him, she looked down at him and said nothing. Fussy fangs wasn’t particularly tall. In fact, most would say she was quite small. However, with her standing before him and under her intense scrutiny, it felt like she was bigger than a drone behind her. He dropped his eyes and stared at his feet, unable to meet her gaze. Still silent, her jade eyes examined every inch of him, from the large gash on his forehead to even the smallest scratch. 

She began circling him, occasionally prodding some of his bruises. He fought back his whimpers and didn’t dare say a word. When she reached his injured arm, she paused. She took his arm in her hands, and, without warning, twisted his arm with a flick of her wrist. He heard a pop, followed by an intense burning pain. He gasped from the pain. Luckily, the pain faded almost as soon as it appeared. He blinked back the purple tinted tears in his eyes and breathed heavily. Despite the initial pain, he only felt a faint soreness. Fussy fangs continued both her examination and silence as if nothing had happened. 

She stood in front of him once again. She leaned forward slightly to take a better look at the gash on his head. She procured a white cloth and a white plastic bottle out of thin air. A sylladex, huh. She poured a clear strong smelling liquid on the cloth. She gingerly took the cloth and began cleaning the wound. He hissed as he felt a stinging pain from the soaked rag, which fussy fangs ignored. After a thorough cleaning, the now purple stained cloth and bottle disappeared just like they appeared. Next, she retrieved a thin needle and string from her sylladex. Fuck, I think I know where this is going. He squeezed his eyes tight and clenched his teeth as tightly as he could in anticipation.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she pierced the skin on his forehead and began sewing his wound shut. The pain was worse than his arm and the rubbing alcohol combined. Despite his best efforts, an occasional whimper escaped his lips.Tears began forming in his eyes once again. This time, he couldn’t stop a few tears from falling to the ground below. Each second seemed to drag on and on. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she cut the string with her nail.

She took a step back. After a moment, she nodded to herself, satisfied. She held out a hand out. 

“Collar,” she said simply, breaking the silence. 

“Uh, what?” he asked, perplexed. “What collar?”

The collar around your neck. Give it to me,” she said curtly as if he was an idiot.

 _Oh, that collar. Must ‘ave forgotten it with everything that happened._ He tried taking it off, but his fingers fumbled on the collar’s latch. Fussy fangs began to impatiently tap her foot. His cheeks became flushed as his cold purple blood rushed to his face in embarrassment. Finally, he managed to clumsily remove it and placed it in her waiting hand.

Once fussy fangs had the collar in hand, she fiddled with it for a moment and removed a small black chip from a compartment he didn’t notice before. She produced strange red handheld device from her sylladex. The device has a squishy bug-like casing with green dots on the side, but a regular screen on the front. She inserted the chip into and tapped the screen a few times. She quickly scanned whatever was on the screen, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at what she saw. 

“Strong psionic potential, but completely lacking in chucklevoodoos,” she stated simply. “Do you happen to know the nature of your psionics?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” he stammered out, surprised at her sudden question. “I was going through the tunnels when I was attacked by some monster, and I torched it with these weird purple flames.”

Fussy fangs simply nodded. She looked back down at her device. “Pyrokinesis,” she muttered to herself as she tapped the screen. The device disappeared into her sylladex, and she turned her full attention to him.

“You have arrived late. As such, there is only on available lusus. However, this lusus is quite picky. I have never seen it pick a grub, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up. If you are not chosen, you will be disposed of.”

He swallowed nervously. “Your gonna kill me if it doesn't pick me?’’ he asked. 

“No. The drone will,” she answered nonchalantly.He glanced at the silent drone standing behind her.

Fussy gangs stuck her index and middle finger in her mouth, and whistled, loud and sharp. On queue, the ground began trembling. He stumbled, struggling to stay on his feet. The jade blood and drone both remained unaffected. The pool at the edge rippled violently for a moment before a great white dome rose from the pool, water cascading down its surface. The rest of its body followed soon after. 

The creature was humungous, taking up nearly half the chamber and had pure white skin, as per usual for lususes. Most of its body was encased in a hard bony shell. It had two flippers on the front and another pair at the back. A beaked head with large white eyed poked out of the shell. Both shell and scaly skin were covered on faded scars.

“A shellbeast…,” he whispered in awe. The shellbeast lowered its massive head, just inches from his face. The shellbeast large eyes looked directly in his eyes. He found himself staring at his own reflection in its eyes. Something lit up in the shellbeast’s eyes as it looked him over. It took a great big sniff, the sheer force making him lean forward. After filling its lungs, it exhaled almost knocking him off his feet. Satisfied with its inspection, it turned and gave a nod to the jade blood.

“Hmm, I must say, I’m surprised,” she said to herself. “This has to the first time that old shellbeast has chosen a troll in sweeps.” She produced her device again and tapped something in again.

She turned to him. “Your lusus will leave through the underground water tunnels and will await your arrival on the surface. You will be escorted to the surface. As a purple blood, you will have plenty of resources to design your own hive, and the construction drones will take care of the rest. However, there is one last matter to address”She gestured to the lusus. 

The shell beast lowered its head again. Once it was at eye level once again, it opened its beak and let out a strange sound.

“Well, what did you hear?” the jade blood asked. 

“Uhh... Lendrz Ridrez…?” Whatever the shellbeast was just incoherent screeching, definitely, not anything close to actual words.

“Congratulations on completing your grub trials, Lendrz Ridrez. The empire can’t wait to see what you accomplish in the next chapter of your life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long. College has been taking up most of my time, so the fic has been on the back burner. Well, since the last chapter's notes rushed, so I wanted to talk more about this fic. It's been awhile since I've read Homestuck, so I'm going to have to read a summary or something. 
> 
> Now, I want to talk about some decisions I made for the fic. I know that some people write that that lusus adopt trolls as grubs, but I decided to have them pupate first. It makes more sense to me because they also design their own hives when they are adopted. It's hard to see a grub with a tablet or something designing a house. The bit with the collars is so they can find any mutations that aren't noticeable. There's nothing like that in canon, but I want to put more details in life on alternia, so expect to spend a few more chapter there. The jumpsuits were there just because I didn't want to write from a naked troll's perspective. It also makes sense that trolls keep tabs on their young, so I don't think Karkat would have made it through with his mutant blood or Feferi with her Fuchsia blood. It would make sense that Fuchsia bloods are culled to stop them from threatening the Empress. If I remember correctly Her Condensation has been working with Lord English/ Scratch since the ancestors time when she killed the Handmaiden .The OC in the story is actually not really a self-insert. It was going to be one, but I changed my mind in the second chapter. I'd also like to make it clear isn't a fix it fic. My OC won't have any knowledge cannon. They're gonna make good decisions but they'll also make mistakes. Now, this might be a deal breaker for some of you, but I plan writing a John and Kanaya Kismesis, and redrom Vriska and Kanaya. I don't really know what to do with Rose now though. Also, I found out how to use special fonts now, but I have to go through the entire fic and write those weird bracket things, but I still don't know how to do colored fonts. The way I write this fic is through Google Docs, then I copy and past in on here, and edit it with Grammarly.  
> Criticism is welcome
> 
> Reviews  
> Zarbapha  
> Thanks for the first review. Yeah, I don't intend for my OC to just come in and fix everything. The memories of humanity are there to just stop him from becoming a Juggalo. I don't intend for him to reclaim his memories. If you got the impression that he has knowledge of Homestuck, that's on me. I guess I just didn't do a good enough job writing it.
> 
> P.S. I don't plan on answering all comments like this. If you ask a simple question, I'll probably answer in the comments.


	3. Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong

_They whispered and cooed to him in the darkness, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t open his eyes to see the owner of the voices. They writhed in excitement as they spoke._

_“Through destruction, you will become our savior,” one murmured._

_“Our Savior,” another gurgled._

_“When the time comes, you will awake to a marvelous gift. For now, return to the waking world.”_

_Countless voices spoke in unison, “awake, young one, awake.”_ _Lendrz tossed and turn, whimpering softly. Despite his best efforts, his body was sluggish and refused to obey. Finally, he wrenched his eyes opened his eyes and awoke._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz burst out his recuperacoon, coughing and spitting out any sopor slime that got in his mouth. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, grimacing from the slime’s foul taste. _Can’t believe the neighbor eats this crap to get high. Taste horrible._ He pressed his hands against he face, moving his hair from his eyes and rubbing the fatigue from them. Every once in a while he had these odd dreams that he could never quite remember, but they never failed to leave him exhausted when night came, no matter how long he slept. He sighed, leaning back against his recuperacoon. His purple recuperacoon was large, and rectangular, and shoved in the corner. This particular model was larger than most, and it hadn’t come cheap. But, with his horns, it was a necessity. He took a look around his respiteblock. The block was on the second floor, spacious and decorated with his various interests. Along one wall was a large purple loungeplank and the wall across had a large tv attached to the wall. There were three doors, one led to a bathroom, one led to the stairs leading down, and the last one was a large closet. Bookshelves stuffed to the brim with fantasy novels lined the walls, most of them being read. Posters were plastered all over the walls, and all the posters were from his favorite game grubs. From Troll Souls to Trollout. A green window made up of small hexagonal shapes looked out.

 _Well, the nights not getting any younger. Don’t think I’ll be able to go back to sleep, anyway._ The highblood stood from his recuperacoon, shaking the slime from his hair. He climbed out of it and walked to his closet. He threw open the closet door to see pick out his clothing, not that he had much choice. The closet only had a few types of clothing; black lounge plants with purple polka dots, purple sneakers, thick black thermals with purple rings along the long sleeves, and black shirts with his sign on hangers. He picked out one of his shirts and examined his sign. The sign had a cross with brackets facing outwards and a small circle on the bottom of the horizontal line. The sign was assigned to him shortly after he reached his surface. He was given a husktop with a ton of sighs and was told to pick one. He spent a few hours looking through the signs before he came across this one. Lendrz didn’t know why, but the sign just felt right. Apparently, some trolls believed that their signs tied them to their ancestors and some kind of grand fate. _That’s gotta be the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard. Fate and destiny are just stories for little pupas._ Lendrz found his thoughts drifting to the day his sign was assigned.

With that, he plucked a thermal and a pair of pants from the hanger entered the ablutionblock to begin his morning rituals. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_And done, _Lendrz thought as he set down his white face paint and looked at himself fully dressed in the mirror. He was standing in front of his sink after washing the sopor slime off himself with a quick shower and brushing both his hair and teeth. He examined himself in the mirror. He had changed a lot since the grub trials. _Can’t believe it's been seven point four sweeps since then._ Aside from the general maturing of his features, he hasn't changed much. His cheeks lost most of their grub fat, but a little still remained. Of course, being a future subjugglator, his face was covered with a cheap greasy face paint. The paint was uneven, even leaving a few patches of his grey skin bare. His design had two large pointed curving fangs along his cheeks, giving him a skull-like appearance. His hair had also grown quite a bit. It now reached halfway down his back, draping down the front and back of his shoulders. Dark bags formed under his eyes due to an erratic sleep schedule. A faint, but ugly scar received from the grub trials marked his forehead. Fortunately, it was hidden by his hair. His horns, unfortunately, grew as well. Unlike some trolls, his horns could be used as weapons, but they were so big they were more a hinderous than a help, delivering an unpleasant jolt whenever they bumped into something- they did so often, especially on doorways. He couldn’t even lay face down on anything, his horns propping his head up uncomfortably! He was already growing into his cast’s usual bulky build. His shoulders were broad, but he wasn’t particularly muscular. He was shorter than the average troll, especially for a purple blood. _Hopefully, I’ll bulk up when I reach my adult molt._ Finished with his daily routine, he left the bathroom and headed downstairs.__

____

__

Lendrz quickly tromped down the stairs leading to the livingblock. The livingblock was bigger than his room, having a larger tv on the wall, two loungeplanks facing it, and a glass coffee table between them. The coffee table held a few of his favorite game grubs, his trusty green husktop, and the novel he was currently reading. The game grubs were fat and squishy, with a port to connect it to a screen. Next to them were smaller similar looking grubs, the controllers. He stopped by the table and picked up the novel. 

“ In Which a Young and Ambitious Subjugglator Overcomes Impossible Odds and Rises to the Top of the Empire After Discovering a Mystical Ability…” The title went on, but reading any further would risk spoiling the story. _Ya know, there’s eventually gonna be a night when book titles are longer than the books themselves,_ he thought, amused.

The book disappeared into Lendrz's sylladex. _Good ol’ stack sylladex. Sure, some say that the stack sylladex was for wrigglers, but it's easy and simple to use. Better than the miracle sylladex I used to have._ Next, he captchalogued his squishy husktop. 

His stomach rumbled and he glanced at his belly. _Better get something to eat,_ he thought. He entered the attached feedingblock to find some breakfast. The kitchen was befitting his caste, luxurious and spacious. He threw open his thermal hull- or as some snooty sea dweller liked to call them, a refrigerator. What a stupid name. He rooted around for a moment.

“Bingo”

He stood up, a two-liter bottle of grape Faygo in hand. On his way back to the livingblock, he grabbed a plate of grubcakes on the counter. 

He plopped down on the loungplank and removed the paper cup. Grubcakes were small light green and spongy cakes with a small colorful piece of rock candy nestled in a topping of frosting. He had baked these treats himself last night and he cooked and baked all the food he ate. Lendrz tended to avoid premade food, especially ones that had grub in the name. The high blood knew stuff like grubloaf comes from beefgrubs, but he wasn’t sure about food like grubsauce and oblong meat products. Seriously, who's bright idea was it to call infant trolls and so many other foods grub?

Lendrz licked his lips and took a big bite out of it. He chewed slowly, savoring the sweet baked goods. He stuffed the rest of pastry into his mouth and took a swig of Faygo to wash it down. He tucked into the rest of his grubcakes and chugged down the last of the Faygo.

With breakfast finished, he stood up and dusted off the crumbs from his lap. As if on cue, he heard a loud guttural roar from just outside his hive. _That’ll be the old lusus calling._ The high blood's lusus wasn’t around very much, usually just dropping by to check on him beginning and ending of each night. He headed out to greet his lusus.

He twisted the handle and-”oof!” He was knocked off his feet by an inquisitive beak. “Easy there, ya old geezer,” he said, patting the shellbeast’s beak. The lusus huffed in response to his teasing and its beak retreated from the doorway. Lendrz picked himself up and stepped into the night. Once outside, he breathed deeply, taking in the earthy and salty scent of his home. 

Lendrz’s hive was located in a large seaside salt marsh and the hive itself was perched upon a large mountain in the center of the marsh. His dark hive was a simple and blocky two-story building with a garage attached to the side. Not too glamorous compared to most other high blood hives, but he couldn't imagine living anywhere else. The marsh was a gloomy and cold place. Most of the marsh’s black icy water went to his knees, but some pools were large enough for his lusus to swim through. His lusus traveled through a larger stretch of the deep water from the sea to his hive. Dark reeds covered the marsh and the occasional dead tree jutted out from the mud. Most of the wildlife packed up and left when he moved in and the lusus started coming around. The only other structure nearby was his neighbor's hive but wasn't inside the marsh.

Lendrz turned his attention to his awaiting lusus. His lusus hadn’t changed much since his first meeting in the caverns. The lusus’s immense size rivaled his two-story hive. The shellbeast had acquired a few more scars, and it did occasionally return with a harpoon stuck on the top of its shell-which he always removed, but the lusus never seemed too bothered by them, so he didn’t either. Shellbeast, after all, are notoriously hard to kill.

His lusus lowered his head and blinked inquisitively at him, as if to ask if everything was alright. “Don’t worry, big guy. I’m alright,” he said, gently patting its beak. The lusus nodded and raised its head. With his safety confirmed, it turned and entered the marsh. The high blood watched the shellbeast travel through the marsh until it reached the ocean. He kept watching until its head sank into the deep dark ocean. He kept his gaze on the ocean for a few moments longer before sighing sadly and went back inside. He knew his lusus cared about him, but it never stayed long. Due to its size, it wasn’t very practical for it to stay in the marsh, and it’s flippers were ill-suited for land. But, that didn’t stop him wishing it would stick around longer.

He shut the door behind him and sat back down on one of the loungeplanks in the living block.

He retrieved his husktop from his sylladex and flipped it open. Most of the screen was taken up by books he was writing. The others were short stories he wrote. He thought himself a decent writer, but he wasn’t amazing and he took pride in what he wrote. He opened up his web browser. The high blood web browser was an odd one, and it wasn’t a particularly good one. He had the browser for as long as he remembered. Its icon was a dark writhing mass of pixelated tentacles and its name was a bunch of unintelligible text. The browser was prone to crashes and glitches, and it infuriated him greatly, but, for some reason, he couldn’t manage to download a different one, no matter how hard he tried. 

_Now to check on my delivery, and-_

“What!?”

He stared in disbelief at the flashing red text on the screen.

****

**CRITICAL FAILURE DELIVERY DRONE INCAPACITATED**

He quickly scrolled through the text below it. _Looks like the drone crashed kinda close. Too far to walk but I could take my scuttlebuggy... Hmm, am I actually doing this…? Doesn’t look like I have much choice unless I order another one. Well, if I’m gonna go after it, I’ll have to let my lusus know, so that means I should head out tomorrow night. Might be a good idea to ask the neighbor to let me know if he sees anybody messing with my hive._

“Well, I'm not gonna head out until tomorrow, so I might as well practice psionics,” he said to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz stood on the roof of his hive with his sleeves rolled up, looking over the sprawling marsh. In the distance, he could just make out his neighbor's jumbled hive in the distance, but he ignored the sights and focused on his practice. In his right hand, he held metal staff. It was unusual for a subjugglator to weld something other than clubkind, but his psionics made him an exception. The staff was made of a dark metal with a simple smooth handle, but its top was a large cage-like torch top. The metal top was blackened from frequent use. The staff was a rare gift from the empire to help him master his psionics and durable enough to double as a bludgeon. He could channel his flame without the staff, but it was nowhere near as effective. As he held it, he remembered when he used to dress up in large flowing robes and pretend to be a sorcerer and wave around the staff he held now with his favorite scalemate in tow. He chuckled at the memories of tripping on oversized robes and lugging around a staff twice his size. Sorcerers are the best magic users-so much better than wizards. Wizards wished they could be sorcerers. Truly, sorcerers were the jocks of the magic world.

Lendrz shook his head. He was getting off track, and he needed to begin practice. He raised the staff and focused on changing his psionics. The high blood felt the flow of energy from the core of his being flow to the top of the staff and a crackling purple flame burst to life. The flame grew hotter and brighter. Soon, the flame grew so intense, it almost hurt to look at directly and he could feel the scorching heat radiating from the light. He concentrated on the fire and formed it into a sphere of flame.

_Now!_

He swung his staff and launched the ball of flame into the march below. The high blood watched as the fireball sailed almost leisurely across the air, leaving a faint purple trail, like a comet. When the fireball hit the mud below, it burst in an explosion of purple flame. Steam and mud flew everywhere from the violent explosion. 

Nodding, satisfied with the result, he began practicing his next move. Like earlier, he focused on channeling energy to his staff. Once the fire grew to a good size, he reached into the cage with his free hand and grabbed the flame. He felt the harsh heat from the flame, but it didn’t burn him, even when he touched it. The high blood himself wasn’t completely fireproof. Only his own purple flame didn’t burn him, but whenever it spread to other places, it lost its purple luster and could burn him, just like any other flame. He pulled the flame out of the cage. As he pulled the flame out, he focused and shaped the fire into a crackling lance. Now that the lance was fully formed, he spied a dead tree in the distance. With a target in mind, he launched his fiery lance. The lance flew through the air at incredible speeds. The lance seared through, splitting it in half like paper. The two halves of the tree ignited with a mundane red flame.

_Okay, now for the hard part._

The high blood still remembered that fateful day back in the caverns when he first discovered his psionics. On that day, he managed to create a spontaneous explosion without having to channel it through his body, but he could never to duplicate it-even with his staff.

Taking a deep breath, he focused much harder than before. For a moment, nothing happened, but the space in front of him started to distort. It buckled and warped upon itself, threatening to collapse. He squeezed his eyes shut and strained his mind, beads of sweat starting to run down his face. The staff crackling with fire.

The space continued to warp and warp until-”Gahh!” He gasped and fell to his hands and knees, seized by a debilitating migraine. 

_Fuck! I just can’t do it!_

Lendrz stayed on the ground, gasping for breath and trying to fight through the pain. He shook his head and blinked back the black spots in his vision. His insides felt like they were twisting and coiling around themselves. Pushing his psionics like this always left him like this; Exhausted, in pain, and on the verge of passing out.

_Uhh, better go back inside any lay down._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz nervously pace around his living block, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his lusus. As he paced, he went through what he was going to say lusus for about the thousandth time, running through the conversation in his head.

_Uhh, hey ya old coot… I've been thinking about heading out to grab a package that crashed not too far from here...No, not like that._

The high blood never actually ventured very far from his marsh, even with his scuttlebuggy. In fact, the only other troll he had ever had any contact with was his neighbor just beyond the marsh. The ancient shellbeast wasn’t around much, but he was very protective. He heard the familiar roar of his lusus for its end of the night checkup. He headed to the door and paused with a hand above the doorknob. The high blood took a deep breath and took a deep breath and opened the door.

As usual, he was assaulted by his lusus’ inquisitive beak. Lendrz couldn’t help but crack a smile and laugh. Who could stay mad with his lusus around? After a spending a moment wrestling with his lusus, he pushed the beak off him and exited his hive. He looked up his lusus, but his words caught in his throat. The shellbeast, sensing something was obviously wrong, lowered its massive head and looked him in the eyes.

Lendrz found himself nervously twiddling his thumbs under his lusus’ inquisitive gaze like a wriggler. Of everything on Alternia, only his lusus could make him feel like this. It only took a glance to make him talk. Finally, he mustered the courage to speak up.

“So, umm… you see I was thinking… okay so the drone carrying my package crashed and I need to take my sctuttlebuggy and go get it, so I won’t be here for your checkup,” he said, blurting out the last part.

The shellbeast stared at him, blinking slowly. As the silence between the two began to stretch longer and longer, lendrz began to grow worried that his lusus would refuse. Sure, nothing was technically stopping him from leaving without his lusus’ permission, but he would never disobey his lusus.

After what seemed like an eternity, the lusus nodded at last. “Yes!” Lendrz shouted. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around the shellbeast’s neck. This trip would be further from his home. The thought filled him with both excitement and dread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz stood in his respiteblock with a sylladex stuffed full of supplies and he was ready to go. He had woken up before the sun even set to ready supplies for the journey ahead. His sylladex was packed with food, water, snacks, and his husktop. He would have to be careful when he captchalogued something or risk breaking something when something inevitably launched from it.

_Might of gone a little overboard, but better safe than sorry._

The highblood went downstairs and entered the garage. His trusty scuttlebuggy stood in the center of his garage. The scuttlebuggy had a small two-person body with a convertible sunproof shielding and large tires. Purple plates covered most of the vehicle. The rest of its body was made up of a metal tubing. All covered in a paint job matching his blood color. The high blood was no mechanic, but he made sure the scuttlebuggy remained it top condition.

Lendrz hoisted himself inside with the cage and dropped into the driver seat without opening the door. As he sat in the seat, he retrieved a ring of keys and inserted one into the ignition, but hesitated before he turned the keys. Alternian was a dangerous and inhospitable environment no matter your blood caste. They were plenty of dangers that didn’t care about blood caste, like predators and the sun would roast anything caught under its deadly gaze. Of course, nothing was stopping other trolls from trying to murdering him. Sure, he was a high blood, but in Alternian its survival of the fittest. 

Taking a deep breath, he turned the key. The engine roared to life before settling down to a low purr. He pushed a button attached to the keyring and the garage door opened. Before he went to retrieve his package, he had a neighbor to visit.

He stepped on the accelerator and the scuttlebuggy surged out of the garage. As he sped away, he pushed the button again, closing the garage door. The scuttlebuggy easily raced across the muddy terrain, wheels spitting out mud. The high blood drove close to the shore, making sure to avoid the deeper parts of the marsh and steered it to the hive in the distance. Eventually, the muddy marsh gave way to brown sand. Before he knew it, he had reached his neighbor's hive.

Lemdrz climbed out of the scuttlebuggy and looked up at his neighbor's hive with distaste. The high blood could never understand why all the other trolls built their hive like some horrible mashup of shapes, and his neighbor was no exception. It even had a tall crooked tower with some kind of dull yellow umbrella on topping it.

He looked around for the troll in question and spotted him sitting by the shore not too far from the hive with a few pie tins scattered around him, some filled with sopor and some empty. 

Gamzee Makara wasn’t the typical purple blood. Gamzee was mild-mannered and some could go as far as to call him nice, but there was a reason for that. He was stoned out of his thinkpan! The fool actually ate sopor pies! Eating sopor slime has a pacifying effect, but it rots the thinkpan overtime. He may be calm now, but it’s far worse in the long run.

Lendrz still remembered when he first met Gamzee when they were little more than pupas. Gamzee had spontaneously visited him at his hive in the and offered him a sopor pie with a dopey smile on his face. Since then, Gamzee seemed to consider him a friend and occasionally came to visit. The feeling wasn’t completely mutual, but Gamzee was still the closest thing to a friend Lendrz had.

“Hey, Makara! I need to talk to you!”

Gamzee perked up at his voice and turned to greet him without getting up. Gamzee was tall and thin. Like Lendrz, a layer of white face paint coated his face, but his paint was much smoother. His design showed the grey skin around his eyes and mouth. His hair was a messy mass, hair sticking out in every direction. His horns gently turned towards each other before their tips straightened out. He wore a simple black t-shirt, lounge pants with grey polka dots, and purple sneakers. The sign on his shirt resembled an n with a loop.

“Oh, hey my motherfuckin’ purple bro. To what do I owe this miraculous visit?” Gamzee asked in lazy and gravelly voice.

“I’m heading out to retrieve a package that crashed not too far from here. I’m gonna be gone a while, so I want to know if you can keep an eye on my hive for a while.”

“Sure," Gamzee answered after a moment with a nonchalant shrug

“Alright, I’m gonna give you my trollian, so you can reach me. It’s condemnedEradicator. Got that?”

Gamzee nodded and retrieved his husk top from his sylladex and flipped it open. After a few moments of typing, a ding came from Lendrz’s husktop. A moment of silence stretched between the two awkwardly while Gamzee looked at him expectedly. Lendrz coughed.

“Uhh, my husktop's in the middle of my stack sylladex…”

Gamzee chuckled. “Sure, bro. Just tell me when you get your hands on the husktop.”

Lendrz nodded. “Be seeing you, Makara”

Lendrz turned back to his scuttlebuggy , Gamzee already going back to gazing at the ocean.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz had gone further from his have than he ever had before. The marsh had been left behind long ago. He had traveled across a vast barren and dusty plain and just entered a large thick forest. The trees were so large, they made his scuttlebuggy look like a toy amongst giants. They blotted out the moonlight with their dark pink leaves. He had to slow down considerably or risk crashing into a tree. He couldn’t help but look in awe at these wooden giants. This was his first time seeing anything like this in person. It’s hard to believe there’s place like this out in Alternia. Still, there could be something dangerous out here. _Can’t afford to let my guard down._ The high blood noticed something hanging from the trees in the corner of his eyes.

“Is that a scalemate?”

There, a dragon plush with button eyes hung from a noose in the branches. As he further into the depths of the forest, more and more scalemates hung from trees. Every color of the dragon plushies hung from the trees except for, oddly enough, white. Lendrz knew every color scalemates came in from experience. More than likely, he was in another troll’s territory-a pretty crazy one at that. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, almost bending the metal, and swallowed nervously. He pressed down harder on the pedal, wanting to get out of this stretch of the forest as soon as possible. He reassured himself as he tried to calm the pounding in his chest.

_Just calm down, Lendrz. There’s nothing to be worried about. I’m sure everything will turn out fine._

**POP! POP! POP! POP!**

The scuttlrbuggy suddenly lurched violently and a series of loud pops came from below it. Lendrz slammed on the breaks as the scuttlebuggy began to veer out of control. He frantically turned the wheel from left to right, narrowly avoiding tree after tree. Eventually, the scuttlebuggy slide to a stop.

Lendrz collapsed into his seat, breathing heavily. “What the fuck was that?” he said to himself as he collected himself. He hopped off his scuttlebuggy to inspect the damage. The problem became obvious as soon as he looked bottom of the vehicle. All four wheels were completely torn apart. _Shit! Don’t have any spare tires._ He knelt down and to get a closer look at the torn rubber. 

“Huh?” Something shiny was embedded inside the rubber. Lendrz plucked the shiny object and examined it. It was a shard of wickedly sharp shard of metal, obviously not natural. That means someone had to have set this up. Lendrz heard footsteps behind him. He whipped around and tensed at the sight; a pair unusually dressed trolls. From their attire, they could only by Flarpers, dangerous trolls who roleplayed as classes and competed with other trolls, the losers usually ending up getting brutally culled.

Sharp could describe the two perfectly. The shorter one with thin, small cone-shaped horns and hair swept to the side wore a tight teal bodysuit covering her up to her neck, which he presumed matched her blood color. A red vest buttoned on the side with a chunk out of it in the shape of an upside-down U and a dark line around her waist made what looked like it might be her sign. Around her hips was a long red loincloth like clothing that reached just past her ankles. Thick red gloves went up to her elbows and red boots that ended just below her knees. She held a red dragon-headed cane with a black and white middle section with a gloved hand and tossing a ceagar in the other. A wicked smile was plastered on her face, spreading from ear to ear with far too many small sharp teeth, even for a troll. A large pair of thin red oval-framed glasses with lenses that ended in points was perched on a small nose just low enough to show her yellow sclera. Her appearance reminded him of the Legislacerators from his books; judge, jury, and executioner all rolled up into one, they were tasked to hunt down criminals of the empire.

Her partner looked like a Gamblignants from his books, judging from the cerulean eight eight-sided die she juggled lightly in one hand. She was thinner than her companion. At first glance, they looked like they were just props, but after another look, he saw that they were actual enchanted die. Gamblignants were infamous marauders who lived on the edge of alternian society, taking huge risks for even the simplest task. All that risk-taking eventually caught up them and they were instinct. One of her horns ended with a barb and the other almost looked like a crabbeast claw. She wore cerulean eyeshadow and lipstick, but her outfit was much less intricate. She wore blue pants with a red belt, red boots, a gray shirt with her sign shaped an m with and pointed tail, and a cerulean cuffed pirate coat with one sleeve ripped off. Her bare arm was painted to look like metal. Aviator style glasses with the left lens tinted gray hung from her face. A large main of unruly hair that went all the way down her back. Like her companion, she had a sinister smile spread across her face, revealing a pair of long incisors that would poke out her mouth even when closed. Despite her costume being simpler than her partner, she looked sharper and more dangerous than the teal blood.

The cerulean was the first to break the silence with her taunting drawl.

“Wellllllll, what do we have here? A lost little pupa wandering into the spider’s web?”

“Or a criminal to be sentenced?” the other chimed in a raspy voice.

Lendrz rose to his full height, ignoring their questions. “Who the fuck are you two?” he demanded.

The teal blood leaned forward, using her cane to support herself. “Now, is that any way to act under trial? Well, if you must know, I am the great legislacerator known as Redglare and my associate here is Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, the greatest pirate in history,” she said, gesturing to the cerulean. “Together, we’re team Scourge!

“I think it’s only fair that you answer our question now,” said Mindfang.

“I’m not part of your stupid little Flarp session, so you two can just fuck right off,” Lendrz replied, still tense and watching for any sudden movement.

Redglare’s ever-present smirk seemed to get even wider. “Actually, if you have ever read a Flarp rulebook, you would find that the rules clearly state than any troll caught inside a Flarp zone is automatically part of the session, regardless of caste. If you don’t play, then you would be breaking the rules. And, we wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

As soon as she finished her sentence, a purple Stat Bat materialized above his head, showing several fluctuating bars. Lendrz had no idea what they meant, but the two trolls didn’t seem too impressed with what they saw. He scowled and materialized his staff. It looked like he would have to fight his way out.

Mindfang retrieved a handheld game grub and Redglare leaned in close to get a better view. “I’ll be your clouder for this session,” Mindfang said with a cruel glint in her one revealed eye.

“Let the games begin!” both of the trolls shouted in unison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Extra  
“Who the fuck are you two?” Lendrz demanded.

Suddenly, both trolls turned their backs to him.

“Prepare for trouble!” the cerulean shouted, turning to face him and holding her fist upward and placing the other on her hip.

“And make it double!” the teal said, mimicking the cerulean.

“To protect the world from devastation!” 

“To unite all peoples within our nation!”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” the cerulean said, making a sweeping motion with the hand in a fist and made a fist with the one on her hip, but kept it their.

“To extend our reach to the stars above!” the teal said, following suit.

“Mindfang!”

“Redglare!”

“Team Scourge blasting off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

Lendrz stood stunned. “... what the fuck was that…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter is done! I feel a little more confident about this chapter now that Lendrz is out of the caverns. How did you guys think about how I wrote the trolls so far? I'm a little hesitant about writing them. I've been looking through the chat logs for reference, but I still don't know. Especially Gamzee, so I kept his dialogue short. He's a pretty difficult character to write. I'm also not sure about troll terminology. I have the mspa wikia open as writing this, but for some reason, its alphabetized by the troll terms for some reason instead of human, so it takes a while to find what I need. After going through the dialogue, I also found that Hussie plays pretty fast and loose with human terms like hell and stuff.
> 
> I'm also not sure what to do with some characters. I have big stuff planned for Lendrz, Vriska, Gamzee, Terezi, Nepeta, Equius. I have a little planned out Eridan, Feferi, and Karkat. I have no idea what to do with Kanaya, Sollux, Tarvos, or Aradia. You'll notice that I pushed back the events and made the character older. There's no reason for this. Its just because I wanted to, but I'll probably change the events in make her pay. I don't plan on writing anything like lemons or stuff like that. I'm also not sure on what to save for Sqrub, because I still want there to be conflict during it. I'm also thinking about maybe doing a kidswap, but I'm still undecided. If I do, it would be John Lalonde, Dave Harley, Rose Egbert, and Jade Strider.
> 
> You guy would also notice that I added a extras segment. It'll be used for stupid jokes that came to mind or short one-shots. Also, try to leave reviews if you have time. I have to figure out how to setup pesterlogs, so that's gonna be a pain.
> 
> P.S. Lendrz's sign looks like this except its one shape and without the dots.  
> ]-l-[  
> ...l  
> ...0
> 
> Criticism is welcome.


	4. I Hate Flarping. I hate it so much.

With a press of a button, several shadowy figures began to materialize out of thin air. They slowly began to take form and solidify. Soon, a small group of flickering constructs stood before Lendrz, standing eerily still. They were bipedal, chitinous armor covered their with curved bodies, and stood a full head taller than him. Multiple pointed insect-like jointed appendages jutted out from their sides.Their heads had eight eyes and fangs like an arachnid. Once they were fully formed, a stat bat fluttered above their head displaying only one bar; there health.

While Lendrz waited for the beast to make their first move, Mindfang leaned in close to Redglare and whispered, “Hey, does that sign look familiar to you? I swear I've seen it somewhere before.”

Redglare shook her head. “Don’t think so. Does it even matter?”

“Probably not”

With another button press, the beasts stirred and began slowly advancing towards the lone Highblood as a group.

Lendrz scowled and backed up slightly. _Damn! There too many of them! I can’t fight off all of them. Even if I do, they’ll just spawn more. Can’t afford to use my psionics either because of the cerulean. She could have mind manipulating psionics._ As a highblood, he was naturally resistant to any kind of mind control, but his psionics also left him vulnerable, especially if he overexerted himself. He looked around for anything that could help. His eyes settled on his scuttlebubby.

_Well, I’m not gonna get it out of here anyway._

Lendrz bent down, putting away his staff, and hoisted his vehicle over his head, arms straining to keep it up. He quickly hurled it with all his strength. The scuttlebuggy flew through the air and landed on the group of constructs, crushing them and causing them to dispel into smoke without leaving so much as a drop of blood, but it didn’t stop there. The scuttlebuggy tumbled towards the two flarpers accompanied by the sound of crunching metal.The flarpers, however, jumped out of the way before it even got close to them. The scuttlbuggy crashed into a tree behind them and shattered upon impact, debris flying everywhere.

“Pretty sure the warranty is not gonna cover that,” he muttered to himself dryly.

“Hey! You could have hurt someone with that,” Mindfang yelled annoyed.

“Don’t you know attacking the clouder is clearly against the rules? This your first game or something?” Redglare added, cackling. 

Lendrz’s teeth clenched from their taunts. _Seriously!? They’re the ones trying to fucking kill me!_

“You know this is my first game!” Lendrz shouted. Now that team Scourge was alone, he retrieved his staff and began advancing towards them.

“Why didn’t you say so? You could really get hurt. Here, let’s start you off with something easy,” Mindfang said. After pushing a few more buttons, another group of constructs began to take form between them, but they were even bigger and menacing than the ones that came before.

“Oops. I might have accidentally made them eight times more dangerous. Totally an accident.”

“Oh, come on! How the fuck is that fair!? Hey, Redglare, how about you do something about that!?”

Redglare laughed and said, “Relax. She said it was an accident, didn’t she? I’m sure a big bad highblood like you can handle it just fine.”

Growling, Lendrz focused on the group ahead of him. The first construct lunged at him directly, but Lendrz swung his staff overhead, slamming it atop its head. It’s head crumpled upon itself with a crunch. Two more attacked from the sides, but he jumped back and swung his staff into one of their sides and the force carried it into the other one, sending both soaring through the air. He lunged forward, smashing the top of his staff into another’s face and shoulder charged what remained of the group, knocking all of them aside. 

The broken remains of the constructs began to slowly evaporate until they disappeared as well. The flarpers had circled around him in the time it took to dispose of the constructs.

“Ha! Is that the best you can do!?” Lendrz shouted, pointing his staff in their direction.

Mindfang and Redglare shared a glance… before doubling over and bursting into laughter. 

Minfang wiped a cerulean tear from her eye and said, “The first batch was only level one and the second was eight-” Mindfang couldn't finish her sentence due to her laughter.

“Out of a hundred!” Redglare managed through her laughter. “You should have seen the look on your face!”

Lendrz felt his cheeks froze from the blood rushing to his face. These lower bloods had not only the gall to attack him, but to laugh at him, too. “Stand down! That's an order!” Lendrz shouted, baring his teeth.

His shouting had no effect. If anything, they only laughed harder. Finally recovering from their laughter, Mindfang brought up her gamegrub again. After pushing a few buttons, another shadowy figure began to take form.

“Alright, let’s see how you handle a level eighty-eight!”

The construct taking form was much larger than the others, towering and threatening. The constructs that came before it were shadowy and ethereal, but this was was more detailed and solid. Lendrz took a step back. _Crap! I don’t think I’ll be able to take this one down._

Once Mindfang pressed the button again, its eyes narrowed and focused on him. It bellowed in anger and charged towards him. Lendrz ducked under its shoulder, evading the grasping arms, and cracked it on the knee as he passed. The construct seemed completely unfazed by his attack. The bar above his head didn’t even drop at all. It whipped around, knocking him aside with its arms.

Lendrz tumbled across the ground until his back crashed into the wreck of the scuttlebuggy, slamming the back of his head against the metal as well. Lendrz sat there, disoriented from the impact. The construct wasted no time and quickly pounced on his stunned figure. Lendrz came to his senses just in time and rolled out of the way. The construct landed where he sat just a moment before. Lendrz desperately looked around for something, anything to help him as the construct turned to him. His eyes settled upon the shards of debris around him. As the construct faced him, about to attack him again, he captchalogued any pieces of metal within range. Once the construct faced him, it was met with a grubcake to the face. A bottle of Faygo followed suit, bursting against its face. It backed away from the sweet onslaught, raising its arms to protect itself. More grubcakes and Faygo launched towards it until it was completely blinded by the surgery confectionaries and soda. While it was distracted, Lendrz quickly got to his feet, picked up the wrecked scuttlebuggy, and slammed it down on the construct with all his strength he could muster. 

“Let’s see you ignore that, asshole!”

Its health dropped by a sizable chunk, and it was pinned under the vehicle's weight. Not waiting for it to recover, Lendrz bolted deeper into the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz hunched over, panting. He had been running for what he guessed what was an hour. The stat bat above his head had disappeared a while ago, so he didn’t have to worry about anymore constructs attacking him. He was out of the flarp zone. He wasn’t completely sure he lost Mindfang and Redglare, but he was too exhausted to keep running.

_Shit, that was too close. Lost my scuttlebuggy, so I have no idea how the fuck I’m gonna get out of here. Have to try to get to a stemcluster and try to find another scuttlebuggy there._

He checked his sylladex to see what was left. Luckily, he had only lost the pastries and soda he had packed. He still had a few bags of beefgrub jerky and bottles of water that he purchased earlier amongst the pieces of his scuttlebuggy. More importantly, he still had his husktop. One more captchalogue and it would have been launched out of his sylladex. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to check it with Mindfang and Redglare still around these woods. As he emptied the debris from sylladex, one piece stood out to him. It was part of the sun-proof shielding. The shielding was large and dome-shaped, designed to cover the top of the vehicle. It was big enough to use as a makeshift shelter against the sun if need be. With everything in his sylladex organized, he moved on.

_Huh. That’s a new one._

After trekking through the forest, he found a tree hive built directly into one of the large trees. This tree had even more of the hanged scalemates, like some kind of twisted fruit.The hive was made of several smaller buildings. All of them seemed to lean precariously from the tree but looked like it was intentional because the walkways between them lined up. 

Curiosity got the better of him and he approached it to get a better look. He noticed there was no ladder up climb up, but there was a pulley system using a net full of scalemates as a counterbalance. Before he could do anything else, he heard footsteps to his right.

“Crap,” he muttered under his breath. Of course, standing there was Mindfang, lightly juggling her die in one hand.

“Nowhere to run now, little pupa,” Mindfang said with a smirk.

“Yeah, nowhere to run,” said a familiar raspy voice to his left.

Redglare was much less gleeful than before. Her cane was pulled in half, revealing a pair of short blades.

With both flarpers flanking him, running wasn’t an option. He was going to have to use his psionics. He only had one shot with the cerulean around. Taking a deep breath, he materialized his staff and focused his energy. 

Both flarpers tensed when his staff began to glow. Mindfang already had her hand to her temple and he could already feel a strange presence probing his mind. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the probing and focused the energy into a fireball. He could already feel Mindfang psionics worming into the center of his mind. He didn’t have much time before he succumbed to her control. The highblood swung his staff, launching the fireball and… missing both flarpers completely, sailing upwards.

“Ha! What that it!? With aim like that, you couldn’t hit the…” Mindfang trailed off as her eyes followed the fireball’s path.

The fireball sailed through the air towards the tree hive. It smashed through one of the building's windows and exploded with a deafening boom. Black smoke billowed out from the window as the fire roared from within. Lendrz felt the probing presence drop as soon as the fireball hit.

“My hive!” Redglare shouted in alarm. She shot him a scowl but dashed to her hive instead of attacking him. Mindfang looked from Lendrz to the spreading fire, unsure whether or not to attack him or help Redglare. Lendrz didn’t wait for her to decide and dashed away from the burning hive. 

Lendrz ran until the burning tree hive was out of sight. His breath grew hollow and ragged, but he forced himself to continue. He could hear the faint sound of rushing water and saw a fast moving river in the distance. Once he reached the roaring river, he leaned against a tree, exhausted. He looked at the river. The river flowed very quickly, white foam forming on the surface. It was far too wide to jump across, even with his strength. He doubted he could swim across it… even if he knew how to swim.

Suddenly, he felt the strange presence probe his mind once again. Cursing under his breath, he focused on shutting out the presence and press his back behind a tree, holding onto his staff tightly. He heard Mindfang call out to him.

“You know, I wouldn’t have messed around so much if I knew you were gonna go and set fire to my Scourge Sister’s hive. Wellllllll, you’ll pay for it now.”

When she finished her sentence, Lendrz saw her dice roll tumble and slow to a stop beside his foot. The ground began to bulge and shift near his feet.

_Huh?_

Thick tree roots burst out from the earth towards him, trying to coil around him, but he jumped out its path. The roots persisted, and the highblood blasted them with a burst of flame. The roots writhed and fell to the ground limp. Once again, he felt the probing. He fought it off, but doing so proved to be much more difficult after using his psionics.

Lendrz’s eyes scanned the trees around him, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of Mindfang. Another cluster of roots burst from the ground, but he quickly dispatched it with another burst of flame. As soon as the roots were blasted, he felt Mindfang probe his mind again.

_Damn! So that's her game. She’s just gonna wait me out and use her psionics to take control of me._

He could still feel the earth tremble underneath his feet. He looked around desperately for anything that could help him, but he found nothing. He was trapped between the flarper and the river. Fuck! There's no way out. Unless…Lendrz looked over at the rushing river again. It was his only chance at getting out of the forest alive. He took a deep breath and jumped into the river, avoiding the roots bursting from the ground.

Lendrz landed into the river with a splash and he sank below the surface like a stone. The rushing water was freezing. Luckily, the purple blood within him was colder, so it didn’t affect him much. However, the lack of air in his bellow sacks was something that bothered him. He struggled and clawed his way to the service. His bellow sacks ached and the corners of his vision began to blur and dim. Just when his bellow sacks felt like they were going to burst, he broke the river’s foamy surface and greedily gulped down fresh air.

As the strong current pulled him downstream, he caught a glimpse of Mindfang standing at the river’s edge. She was practically shaking with rage. She shouted something at him, but the river drowned her out. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to savor the view of the enraged flarper. The current tried pushed him below once again. Lendrz fought to keep his head above water, but he couldn't stop himself choking on it. He was forced below the surface once again, all the way to the bottom. As he was struggling, the back of his head smashed against the rocky riverbed. The impact knocked him out instantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pounding in Lendrz’s head the first reminder that he was still alive. Gentle water running across his lower body was the second. He opened his eyes but quickly shut them. Even the dim moonlight felt like needles digging into his eyes. After taking a moment to recover, he slowly began to get to his feet, keeping his eyes closed.The dizziness in he felt almost made him collapse a few time, but he did manage to unsteadily get to his feet with his hand on his knees. Taking a deep breath, he forced his eyes and winced from the pain. His vision was blurry, but it faded after a few minutes along with the along with the dizziness. Minor scrapes and bruises covered his body, but it wasn’t anything serious. Most of the pain came from the back of his head. The highblood gingerly reached behind his head and brushed his fingers across it. He held back a scream, and lights danced across his vision from the intense pain. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking at his hand. His fingers came back slick purple blood.

“Where am I...? This isn’t my hive,” Lendrz croaked, his voice cracked and dry. “The last thing I remember- the Scourge Sisters!” The memories that led up to this point came rushing to him. He frantically looked around as if one of them would jump from the shadows, but nothing happened. In fact, it looked like the river carried him to a small clearing in another part of the forest completely. He stood at the river's edge and a gentler stretch of water as well. The forest around him had changed completely as well. Where the other trees were towering behemoths, these trees were significantly smaller with thick green canopies, brown bark, and they grew much closer together. They were still large enough to block out the moon, and the sun if need be. Unfortunately, this also meant these woods were much darker. Dense vegetation grew at the feet of these trees as well. It almost looked like a thick green carpet. Lendrz looked down at himself. Minor cuts and bruises covered his body, but the wound on the back of his head was the worst of it. His clothes were drenched and his makeup was washed clean.

_That’s right. Those flarpers from earlier attacked... Shit, I don’t know how I’m gonna get out of here without my scuttlebuggy. Wait, I still have my husktop!_

Lendrz sat down with leg crossed and retrieved his husktop from his sylladex. He flipped it open and pressed the power button. While he waited for it to power, he retrieved a bottle of water a bag of beefgrub jerky from his sylladex. The highblood shoveled a few handfuls of jerky into his mouth and drained the water bottle. Once the husktop powered on, he was greeted with a few messages from trollian. _Oh, that's right. They're probably from Makara._ He accepted Gamzee’s request and looked through the messages he left.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]

TC: HoNk :o)

terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]

_Hmm, this was probably his first message after I gave him my trollian. This message was from yesterday. I’ve been out for about a day. Looks like he messaged me a few more times._

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]

TC: BrO, aRe yOu oKaY? ThE MoThErFuCkInG SuN’s AbOuT To cOmE Up aNd Be sHiNiNg, MaN, AnD YoU'Re sTiLl oUt. sHiT’s GeTiNg ClOsE. TrOlL Me wHeN YoU CaN.

terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]

TC: FuCk, MaN I ReAlLy mEsSeD Up 

TC: lEnBrO, I ShOuLd hAvE FuCkINg SaId sOmEtHiNg To StOp YoU 

TC: ThIs iS AlL My mOtHeRfUcKiNg fAuLt 

TC: I ShOuLd hAvE KnOwN SoMe sHiT WaS GoInG Go dOwN 

TC: I'M SoRrY LeNbRo 

TC: :o(

terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

Lendrz felt a pang of guilt in his gut after reading Gamzee’s messages. He regretted making him go through this. He quickly messaged Gamzee.

condemnedEradicator [CE] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

CE: I’M NoT DeaD YeT, MakarA, SO YoU CaN StoP WorryinG.

Gamzee’s response was almost instantaneous.

TC: LeNdRz! 

TC: YoU'Re sTiLl fUcKiNg aLiVe, MoThErFuCkEr! 

TC: WhAt tHe fUcK HaPpEnEd tO YoU, lEnBrO?

Lendrz usually chided Gamzee whenever he called him Lenbro, but he didn’t have it in him to do it this time.

CE:OkaY. BuT, It’S BeeN RougH. 

CE:FirsT, I WaS AttackeD BY A CouplE OF FuckinG FlarperS. OnE WaS DresseD LikE A GamblignanT AnD WaS A CeruleaN. ThE OtheR WaS DresseD LikE A LegislaceratoR AnD WaS A TeaL. thE CeruleaN HaD MinD ControllinG PhysionicS, SO I HaD TO JumP IntO A RiveR TO GeT AwaY, BuT I basheD MY HeaD ON ThE BottoM OF IT.

Gamzee stopped replying for a while. Lendrz almost started typing another message before he replied.

TC: DiD YoU CaTcH ThE MoThErFuCkInG NaMeS Of tHoSe fLaRpErS? 

CE: YeaH, I KnoW TherE FuckinG NameS. ThE CeruleaN WaS MindfanG AnD ThE TeaL WaS RedglarE. TheY CalleD ThemselveS ThE ScourgE SisterS.

Gamzee paused again before answering.

TC: FuCk, Lenbro. hOw aRe yOu gOnNa gEt bAcK. 

CE: OkaY, HolD ON FoR A SeC. LeT ME ChecK ThE MaP WitH MY HusktoP.

Lendrz opened another tab on his husktop and searched for his location. _Looks like the river carried me north through most of the forest and its edge is close by. A stemcluster isn’t too far off. It’ll take at least two days to reach it. Good thing I grabbed that piece shielding from the scuttlebuggy. I can use it to take cover for the night. I can probably find some way to get back in the stemcluster. Hmm... it also looks like I can still get my package with a small detour._

A ding from his husktop brought him out of his thoughts. He opened trollian again.

TC: YoU StIlL ThErE LeNbRo? 

CE: YeaH, I’M StilL HerE. 

CE: There’s A StemclusteR NearbY, SO I’M GoinG TO TrY TO GeT TherE BY FooT. I HavE A PiecE OF SunprooF ShieldinG I CaN UsE WheN ThE SuN ComeS UP. WheN I ReacH ThE IT, I’lL SeE IF I FinD AnotheR ScuttlebuggY OR SomethinG. 

TC: AlRiGhT, lEnBrO. I GoT To dRoP A FeW MeSsAgEs aT SoMe...fRIenDs. 

TC:I'Ll hAvE ThE BiGgEsT FuCkEn sOpOr pIe wHeN YoU GeT BaCk.

terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

_Huh, didn’t know Makara had any other friends. Well, better get a move on._

Putting away his husktop, Lendrz got to his feet and entered the sea of trees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he ventured deeper into the forest, the humidity rose and the air grew colder. A faint mist gathered around the canopy, giving the forest a ghostly look, but it was anything but silent. The air was filled with caws, hoots, and screeches of creatures that laid just out of sight. Lendrz could only catch a rustle in the vegetation or a glimpse of a tail. If the circumstances were different, he could have appreciated the ethereal beauty of the forest. But, it was hard to appreciate something when it seemed like it was fighting against you.

“Fuck!”

Lendrz was whipped in the face with a particularly springy branch for what felt like the umpteenth time. Growling, he ripped the offending branch off and angrily tossed it to the ground as he trudged along. Traversing through the forest proved to be more difficult than he originally thought. His feet sank into the mud with each step, threatening to suck his shoes off his feet. His clothes, ripped and stained, were beyond saving. Twigs, leaves, and all manner of filth found their way into his tangled hair. Fortunately, the pain in the back of his head faded to a dull throb.

“I hate this place… I hate it so much.”

The highblood’s ears perked up. Not because he heard something, but because the forest nearly grew completely silent. No more hoots, cawing, or even rustling. The only sound left was the wind through the leaves. He heard it before he saw it. Colossal heavy thuds were getting closer to his location. The earth trembled with every step. Something big was approaching. Lendrz crouched low into the vegetation. A great white-furred head poked out through the trees. Thick white bony armor covered most of its head, revealing only its eyes, nose, and mouth. As it continued, more of its body came into view. The bony armor covered protected its back and limbs, but it left the underbelly unprotected. A cholerbear, ferocious and armored carnivorous lusus. Unfortunately, this one looked feral, judging from the savage look in its eyes.

Lendrz held his breath and kept as still as possible. He silently urged it to carry on and leave. Instead, the cholerbear lowered its head and began sniffing around. It followed its nose and slowly began to get closer and closer. _No! Go away, asshole! Don’t you have anything better to be, you stupid animal!_ As it neared, it bared its teeth and began growling deeply. 

_Fuck!_

Lendrz broke from his hiding spot and began running away from the cholerbear. The cholerbear roared and began charging. The highblood weaved through the trees as he ran. It was hopeless to try to simply outrun it. He would have to hope all the trees would slow it down enough for him to get away. Psionics were out of the question unless he wanted to burn along with the forest, and preferred to avoid testing his mettle against it. The highblood still retrieved his staff, if only just for his comfort.

He could hear it crashing through the trees and foliage behind him. Its own massive bulk betrayed it, making traveling through the trees difficult. The cholerbear attempted to pounce on the highblood, but he dived out of the way. The cholerbear crashed into the trees. The felled trees crashed into onto its back, but it easily shrugged them off. Lendrz didn’t waste any time getting up and taking off once again. The cholerbear turned and locked its gaze on him. It roared again and continued the chase. He noticed there was a large ditch ahead of him. The trees along the edges were laden with thick vines, forming a net of sorts between them. An idea began to form in his head.

_This better work._

Lendrz ran towards the ditch. Once he reached the net of vines, he managed to weave through the vines and jump down the ditch. The cholerbear charged forward and crashed into the vines. The vines stretched tautly, but they held firm. The cholerbear was caught in the vines! It thrashed around in the vines, but it only managed to tangle itself even further. It roared, enraged at being entangled in the vines.

Lendrz climbed out of the ditch and turned to the cholerbear. “Let’s see you get out of that one you stupid animal!” he shouted, as he dusted himself off. He turned to leave- _ **SNAP!**_

The cholerbear’s trashing was snapping the vines. Shit! Lendrz took off running once again. Getting real tired of all this running. The cholerbear made short work of the vines and was free in no time. It resumed its chase of the highblood as soon as it shook off the remaining vines.

Lendrz dodged through the trees, but the cholerbear was gaining on him quickly. The beast was on his heels when it swiped at him with a mighty claw. The highblood tried dodging out of the way. Luckily, he managed to avoid the sharp claws, but he was still clubbed with its paws. His staff was knocked out of his hands, and knocked to the ground, face down. He turned over on his back, only to see the cholerbear looming over him. It reared on its hind legs, ready to crush him underneath its massive weight. Lendrz squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the end… but it didn’t come. Instead, he heard the sound of steel cutting through flesh. The highblood opened his eyes to see the cholerbear staggering about, roaring in pain. There were three large, gruesome slashes running along its unprotected belly. Purple blood poured from its wounds, and innards poked through the wounds, as well. The cholerbear let out one last roar before it fell on to its side. It struggled weakly for a moment, then it went still. 

Lendrz kept still, heart still pounding and breathing heavily. Without warning, a small patch of vegetation began shaking. Whatever was hidden in the bushes took that cholerbear down like it was nothing. It was probably an even more dangerous predator. Lendrz got to his feet, backing away from the rustling. He tried to retrieve his staff from his strife specibus, but nothing materialized. The staff! The highblood looked around frantically for his staff, but it was lost in the vegetation. He looked back at the rustling foliage and channeled his psionics into the palms of his hands, just in case. He would only use them as a last resort. He didn’t fancy burning along with this forest. 

The vegetation stopped rustling. Lendrz kept his gaze locked on to the bush, waiting for something to jump out of it. The highblood froze. He felt cold, sharp metal pressing against his neck, just short of piercing his skin.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” a high pitched feminine voice asked harshly.

“Fuck! Okay, my name’s Lendrz Ridrez. I was on my way to find a package because the delivery drone crashed, and I was attacked by a couple of flarpers. My scuttlebuggy got wrecked, I jumped into the river near here to get away. Alright, that’s everything. Just don’t do anything drastic,” the highblood blurted out.

“Wait, did you say Lendrz Ridrez? Do you know Gamzee?” the voice asked, losing some of its steely edge.

“Makara? Yeah, he’s my neighbor. Why?”

Lendrz felt the blades fall away from his neck. He exhaled deeply and turned to look at the troll behind him. The troll in question was almost as tall as him. Her facial features were distinctly feline-like. She wore an oversized olive trench coat that dragged on the ground. She wore blue pawlike shoes, a blue tail that seemed to move along with her. A pair of large feliine-like horns poked through a blue cat shaped beanie with white dot forming the eyes and nose and edges making the mouth. Hair poked out through the edges. The rest of her clothing was standard, a black shirt with her olive sigh and grey jeans. Despite being in the same forest as him, she wasn’t covered in filth like he was. Even her oversized coat was nearly spotless. Her sign was a simple circle with a tail curving upward, then downward like a tail. Her weapons were a large pair of claws made of a light blue metal connected to metal plates connected to back of her fingerless gloves. They were currently covered in purple blood, disturbingly similar to his own. Even though they were no longer pressed against his neck, she still held them at the ready.

“Uhh, you can drop the claws. I’m not going to try anything,” Lendrz said awkwardly. 

The olive blood remained tense for a moment before the bladed retracted into the plates with a shink. She looked him up and down before relaxing slightly. 

“Wow, it looks like you had a rough time,” she simply stated.

**EXTRAS**

Lendrz stood ready for whatever was hiding in the foliage. Suddenly, a head popped out of the bushes wearing a cat-shaped beenie. 

"Hewwo"

"...I should of let that cholerbear kill me..."

**REVEIWS**

Yeah, there's always a few errors when posting a new chapter. I pretty much just skim the chapter real fast. By the time it's done, I've been working on it for a while, and I just want to post it and start the next one. Also, since I use words from alternia, they're always highlighted in red, so I ignore them and some mistakes get through that way. I went back a changed a few things about the glasses and the mistakes you pointed out. As for the fire psionics, I know that it's pretty wordy, but I'll be way more brief about it in the future. I just wanted to explain how they worked all in one go. I'll also try to keep things simple. For me, it's kind of a pet peeve when a simple sentence. I always feel like I need to add more to the sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is my first chapter writing actions scenes. This chapter also had more dialogue than the other ones. I think I did fine, but tell me what you think. This chapter ended at a kinda weird spot. It was supposed to be a little longer, but I wanted to get it out today, and I want more time to think about the other troll's dialogue. Writing the pesterlogs are pretty annoying. The HTML text doesn't copy and post well into ao3. It cuts out the color of the text, so I have to change it on ao3 Other than that, nothing much to say about this chapter.
> 
> Criticism is welcome.


	5. The Missing Package Caper

“You don’t even know the half of it… Well, since you know my name, mind telling me yours?” Lendrz asked.

The troll shifted her weight from one foot to another, contemplating whether or not to give an answer.

“Nepeta Leijon,” she answered finally.

“What now, Leijon?”

Nepeta chewed her lip as she thought for a moment.

“We could go to my hive. We could patch you up there-if you help carry the cholerbear back with me.”

_Well, it's not like I have a lot of options here. And, if she was going to kill me, she would have already done it._

Lendrz turned to the cholerbear carcass. It laid in a large pool of purple blood. The pool of purple blood still unnerved him. It was disturbingly similar to his own. Its eyes were, but they were glassy and empty. What was once a powerful predator was now a lifeless corpse. If it hadn't been for Nepeta, it would have been his glossy-eyed corpse lying in a pool of purple blood. Unfortunately, it was far too large to captchalogue. He would have to physically carry it. Shrugging off his discomfort, he stooped down and hoisted it upon his shoulders. The sheer size of the cholerbear made it difficult to handle, but he could manage with his strength. He managed to drape its large arms over the back of his shoulders. Its head lolled around lifelessly. The cholerbear almost looked like a morbid oversized backpack. _Not so tough when you're dead, huh._

He turned back to Nepeta. “Lead the way,” he said with a nod.

“Okay. Just follow me and stay close. The forest can be purrty dangerous,” she replied. She turned and started their journey back to her hive.

_A cat pun, eh? Fitting. Well, on we go._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nepeta moved through the forest with grace and ease he wouldn't have thought possible for a troll. She often disappeared into the trees, only to reappear close to him as if from nowhere. Despite traveling the same forest as him, she was nearly spotless, as well. Even her coat seemed to remain relatively clean. Lendrz could only march through the forest, lugging the cholerbear behind him.

The had been traveling together for a while, but they haven’t said a word to each other since their initial encounter. The silence only dragged on and on. Finally, Lendrz couldn’t bear the silence any longer and decided to speak up.

“So...you spend a lot of time here?”

Nepeta stayed silent for a moment. Lendrz thought he might have offended her somehow. Then, she let out a giggle. “I only live here,” she said.

Lendrz blushed a little. “Sorry, that was a stupid question. Okay then, what were you doing when you took down that cholerbear?”

“I was already hunting it before I even knew you were here. You being here made it tricky, but you also made a purrfect opening for it.”

_Wonder if she would have done anything if it didn’t stand on its legs. Well, whatever. Doesn’t matter now._

“You said my name earlier. How do you know it?”

“Oh, Gamzee talked about having a neighbor a few times. He only said your name, though. Okay, now it's my turn to ask a few questions. How did you meet Gamzee?” she asked as she slowed down to walk down to walk beside him.

“Nothing much to say about that,” he said with a shrug. “Met him when we were fresh out of the caverns. Just showed up at my doorstep one day with a sopor pie.”

Nepeta nodded. “Next question, do you spend a lot of time with Gamzee?”

Lendrz raised an eyebrow at her question. _Strange question._ “Sometimes, I guess. He usually just drops by whenever he feels like it,” he answered.

“Alright, last question. What was that weird glowing coming from your palms from earlier?” She glanced down at his hands

“The glowing comes from my pyrokinesis. Didn’t use them against this guy because if the fire spreads it burns me too,” he said, giving the cholerbear he was dragging a shake. “I usually use my staff to channel it, but I dro- Fuck! I dropped it in the cholerbear attack! I need to get it back!”

Lendrz turned to run back, but Nepeta put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Lendrz turned his head to look at her. “I need that staff. I got it directly from the Empire. “I doubt I’ll get another.”

Nepeta looked a little guilty and avoided his eye. “I… kinda already have it,” she said. She materialized a familiar staff and held it out to him. “Sorry, I didn’t know I could trust you when I took it.”

Lendrz took his staff from her and glared at her heatedly. However, his annoyance melted as soon as he looked at her face. She looked at him with watery eyes and wavering lips.

Lendrz sighed and said dismissively said, “Whatever, it's fine. Just forget about it.” He stored his staff in his sylladex.

“You know, you should really get a different kind of weapon. That staff sucks at close range.”

The highblood shrugged. “It works fine for me.”

Nepeta didn’t push the subject. The two continued in silence the rest of the way, but it wasn’t nearly as tense as it was before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We’re here!” Nepeta shouted, throwing her hands up in a showy manner. They had entered a small clearing in the forest, but there was nothing else of notice around.

“Uh… what am I supposed to be looking at?” he said as he looked around the clearing. “I don’t see anything.”

Nepeta only giggled in response. She then walked to a seemingly normal patch of vegetation and pulled it away, revealing a dark cave opening. Before Lendrz could take a step forward, she whistled sharply. “Come on, Pounce”

As soon as she finished her sentence, Lendrz felt something furry brush past his hand. The highblood jumped away in shock and looked at what grazed by him. A large white purrbeast sauntered by him and headed to the entrance. It reached up just below his abdomen and was about as long as he was tall. Before it entered the cave, it turned its head and gave him a wary look. It looked like any other purrbeast except for the fact that it had two sets of mouths. It turned back to the cave and entered.

_Can’t believe her lusus was following me the entire time. If it wasn’t for Nepeta, I would have been dead a long time ago._

Suddenly, she froze with a shocked expression on her face. “H-hold on. I have to check on something real fast.” Nepeta hurried into the cave, disappearing into the darkness. Lendrz could hear lots of movement from inside the cave.; her footsteps and rustling. Lendrz began tapping his foot impatiently after a while. Finally, Nepeta emerged from her hive and moved her hands in greeting.

“Hurry up,” Nepeta called. “We don’t have all night.”

Lendrz noted her odd behavior and entered the cave. Nepeta followed after him and moved the vegetation back in place. The cave became much darker as soon as the vegetation covered the opening, but he could still see well enough.

He heard Nepeta’s voice come from darkness near him. “Hold on a sec” There was some shuffling in the dark around him. The highblood heard a something click and soft light fill the cave. She had lit a metal torch and placed it back on its fixture on the wall. She continued to move around the cave, lighting more torches as she went.

The highblood looked around the cave. The purrbeast was already lying down against a wall. The walls were made of a smooth dark red stone. Its surfaces were uneven with segments jutting out. He found his eyes were being drawn to a few bloodied corpses of all kinds of beast. The looked fresh. Really fresh. Small paintings made of blood and bloody handprints decorated the walls. Windows made of smaller squares looked out, but foliage obscured their view but hid them as well. A small grey stone block was against the wall and had a green tablet resting on top of it. A few smaller tunnels led to different sections of the cave. A large section of one of the walls was sloppily covered completely with a weave made of thick grass.

Finally, Nepeta turned to him. “You can just drop that anywhere,” she said, gesturing to the cholerbear on his back before going to rummage around in a dimly lit corner in the cave. Lendrz shrugged off the cholerbear, and it fell to the ground with a heavy thud. He stepped away from the corpse and sat down against a wall. The highblood looked back at the covered wall. _Strange Leijon chose to cover that wall specifically. It doesn't look like she’s too worried about cleanness. I mean, she has blood covering every other wall._

When Nepeta turned back to him with a small wooden bowl of water, a rag, and bandages. 

“Hey, Leijon, what’s with that wall,” he asked, pointing to the covered wall. Nepeta stopped dead in her tracks and avoided his gaze.

“Uhh… nothing? Yeah, It's nothing,” she stammered.

So, You’re telling me you covered an entire wall for absolutely nothing?”

“Yup!” Nepeta blurted out a little too quickly. Sweat began dripping down her forehead and olive dusted her cheeks.

“Whatever,” he said, shrugging.

Nepeta continued and kneeled beside him. “Turn, please,” she said, dunking the rag into the water. He followed her instruction and braced himself. She pressed the wet cloth against the wound. Lendrz hissed, but he kept still. Nepeta cleaned the wound as well as she could. Soon, the wooden bowl was just as purple as his own blood. She set the bowl and bloodstained rag aside and took the bandages. She wrapped them tightly around his head. “Aaand, done,” she said proudly and sat down beside him.

“Thanks,’ Lendrz replied. He leaned back against the cave wall.

“So, do you have any plans to get back to your hive?” Nepeta asked.

“Yeah,” Lendrz answered. “There’s a stemcluster up north from here. I going to head up there. It’s a two-night walk at least, but I have the sunproof dome from my scuttlebuggy, and food and water. It should be enough to get me there fine.”

Nepeta thought about what he said for a moment. “Hey, I can give you a ride with Pounce, if you want. I can’t take you all the way there because Pounce doesn’t like going too far from here.”

Lendrz turned to look at her eager expression.“That would great, Leijon. Thanks,” he said, grateful for her help.

“Here, let me give you my trollian.” Nepeta went to the stone tablet to retrieve her tablet. Once she had it, she returned to him. “What’s your’s?”

“condemnedEradicator,” Lendrz answered as he materialised his own husktop. He accepted a request from an arsenicCatnip. He looked at the clock on his husk top. _It’s already almost daylight. Time really flew by_

The sound of his stomach growling brought him out of his thoughts. Nepeta laughed said, “We have been walking for a while, haven’t we?” She got up and walked to the cholerbear carcass. She bent down and brought out her claws. Then, she began tearing into it. He could hear the sound of flesh ripping and blood spilling. Lendrz winced and avoided looking directly at the butchering. All the meat Lendrz used to cook was already cut up and ready to use. Soon, Nepeta turned back to him with a thick slab of bloody meat on a bone in each hand.

Nepeta noticed his queasy expression. “What’s wrong?” she asked, cocking her head to the side and pointing one of the dripping slabs of meat at him.

Lendrz swallowed and said, “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He stood up and took the meat Nepeta held out by the bone. She turned and gestured that he follows. He was led into one of the smaller tunnels. Her lusus got up and lazily followed after them. It led to a large primitive looking fireplace in the wall. The purrbeast seemed to fall asleep on the floor. Nepeta moved to light it, but Lendrz stopped her.

“Here, let me,” he said. Lendrz placed his hand on the pile of the wood and snapped his fingers. Purple sparks showered from his fingertips onto the wood. A flame sprung to life and quickly grew. 

“Those are you psionics? They’re so cool!” Nepeta beamed, bouncing on her heels.

Lendrz smiled and stuck his meal into the fireplace along with Nepeta. Nepeta thrust her meal directly into the fire using the bone as a handle. The meat fizzled and popped from the fat, on the verge of catching fire itself. Lendrz stared at her, dismayed at her cooking. Nepeta noticed his staring and asked, “What?” 

“Nepeta, I think you need to work on your cooking. You’re not supposed to cook the meat directly in the fire,” he said.

“Then, why don’t you tell me how?” she huffed.

“Well, first, you want to keep it just above the flame,” he said. Nepeta followed his lead as he demonstrated what to do. “Then, you have to keep to keep turning it to stop the fat from dripping into the fire.”

The pair of trolls continued to cook until Nepeta pulled her’s out of the fire. The meat was still rare, that didn’t stop her. She tore a large chunk out of her out her piece, and juice dribbled down her chin. She wiped it away with her sleeve. “Thanks,” she said around a mouthful of meat.

“No problem,” he said. Lendrz waited until his meal was cooked more thoroughly before pulling it out. He bit into the rich meat. Considering it was cooked with only a open fire and no seasoning of any kind, it tasted pretty good. Both quickly scarfed down their food. Nepeta stood up and yawned. “It’s getting purrty late. Pounce and I will take you as far as we can tomorrow.” She went back to the main chamber, and Lendrz followed along with her lusus.

When they returned, it occurred to Lendrz that he would have to sleep without a recuperacoon and at least another night after. “Wait here,” Nepeta said as she entered another small tunnel. She returned shortly with a bundle of furs in her arms. She dropped them in a small pile on the floor. “There you go,” she said to him.

She walked to her lusus was curled up and collapsed, burying her face into the purrbeast like a pillow. _Wait, she doesn't use a recuperacoon at all?_ It was then that he noticed the faint bags around her eyes. Then again, he wasn’t one to lecture other about getting a good day sleep, considering his own poor sleeping habits. Disregarding that though, Lendrz flopped onto the pile of furs and closed his eyes. The cave was silent, save for the regular breathing of Nepeta and her lusus. However, sleep was hard to come by. The highblood found himself staring at the cave’s roof. Everything had happened so quickly that he scarcely had a moment to stop and think. 

This has been a hectic few days, hasn't it… My lusus must be worried sick by now. I’ll have to tell Gamzee to tell him I’m okay. Nepeta was right about needing a different weapon, though. I can bash a troll’s skull in with it, but I still need a better weapon when something dangerous gets close. I can’t always use my psionics for everything. Those flarpers or that cholerbear almost killed me because I couldn’t use them, and my staff wasn’t good enough.

Lendrz turned onto his side, and sleep finally managed to take him into its embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_They came for him again in the nothingness. Their familiar writhing was almost comforting when nothing else was. Their choir of voices spoke to him._

_“With every night, the reckoning inches closer and closer.”_

_“The time will come.”_

_You must prepare yourself for when the time comes.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ledrz’s eyes fluttered open to see a large pair of eyes staring back. “Mind telling me what you’re doing exactly, Nepeta?” asked Lendrz.

“It looked like you were having a daymare. Are you okay?” she asked, a little concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that this is my first I slept without my recuperacoon. Do you really sleep every day without one?”

‘Yup never used one,” she nonchalantly answered.

Lendrz sat up and reached upwards to stretch. He sighed in relief as he felt his joints pop after a restless sleep. “I don’t think that’s very healthy.”

Nepeta huffed and crossed her arms. “You sound like my meowrail when you say that.” She began to speak in a deep, masculine tone, probably imitating her monorail. “Nepeta, you should sleep in a recuperacoon. Nepeta, you should move out of the cave and get a real hive. ”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Lendrz said, a little embarrassed.

She waved off his apology.“Don’t worry. I was just kidding with me. The both of you just worry too much. I can take care of myself. By the way, the sun just set. We should get going soon.”

A realization came to Lendrz. “This might be a weird question, but do you have any white paint you spare? The river washed off the paint I was wearing before.”

Nepeta though for a moment. “I don’t know. I can’t make white paint.” She smiled suddenly and clasped her hands together. “I’ll give you the paint if you let me paint you.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You don’t even know my pattern.”

“Pleeeease,” she pleaded with her large eyes and quivering lips.

Lendrz let out an exasperated sigh. “FIne. Just be quick about it.”

Nepeta clapped her hands and ducked into one of the smaller sections of the cave. She returned just as quickly as she returned with two small wooden bowls of white and black paint and brushes. She kneeled in front of him. “Don’t move,” she said as she began painting. Lendrz obliged and patiently waited for her to finish.

She brushed some hair out of the way to finish painting the rest of his face, and she noticed the old scar on his forehead. “Where did you get this scar?” she asked.

“That scar? That’s from way back in the Grub Trials,” he answered. Nepeta nodded and continued her work, painting over the scar.

“And, done,” Nepeta proudly declared. She leaned back to get a better look at her work. “Everything came out purrfectly.”

“Alright then, let’s go,” Lendrz said as he stood up and left the cavern with Nepeta. Pounce was already waiting for them in the clearing when they exited the cavern. Nepeta strode towards her lusus and hopped onto its back.

“Come one,” she said, beckoning for him to join her. Lendrz hesitantly approached the purrbeast, Pounce stared at him expectedly. The highblood awkwardly climbed onto its back. There wasn’t much room to spare, so Lendrz had to lean uncomfortably close to Nepeta. 

“Go, Pounce,” she commanded, and the purrbeast charged forward. Lendrz was almost knocked its back from the sudden movement, but he managed to wrap his hands around Nepeta’s waist in time. Pounce charged into the trees at incredible speeds. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is as far as Pouce will go,” Nepeta said as her lusus slowed to a stop. “Umm, are you okay?”

Lendrz was holding on to Nepeta with his eyes tightly closed. The sound of her voice roused him from his stupor. He took his hands off Nepeta. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head.

They had left the forest some time ago and had been traveling through a barren and dusty plain. If he strained his eyes, he could just make out the towering buildings of the stemcluster in the distance. Lendrz dismounted Pounce and turned to Nepeta. 

“Thanks for your help, Nepeta. If you ever need my help, just ask.”

Nepeta smiled. “You called me by my first name!”

“I guess I did,” Lendrz, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Just remember to troll me when you reach the stemcluster.”

“Will do.”

With their farewells said, Pounce, with Nepeta still mounted, turned and began its journey back to the forest at the same pace that brought him here. Lendrz watched the pair travel through the plains for a moment before turning back to his own journey. However, before he reached the stem cluster, he had a package to retrieve. He took a big breath and took the first step of many.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The crash site of his package wasn’t too far from where Nepeta had dropped him off. The map on his computer showed him that it was near the foot of the formation, but he couldn't find the wrecked delivery drone anywhere. He circled the formation once again, only to come up with nothing once again. Lendrz frowned and checked his husktop again.

_This doesn't make any sense. I must have walked over it a dozen times._

Lendrz’s foot suddenly caught on some kind of pebble, and he suddenly pitched forward. He cursed when he landed on the ground. The highblood sat up and looked at what tripped him. Instead of a stone, it was a small black box, about the size of his palm. He picked up the box. It was smooth, except for a few scuffed parts and a little weighty. He looked around to find out where it came from, but there was nothing nearby. He looked up and saw a large crater in the rock formation. He took another look at the box in his hands.

_This must be the delivery drone’s black box. It must have crashed into the formation, and this must have fallen off. I’ll have to check what’s on it when I reach the stemcluster._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suffice to say, Lendrz was not in a good mood when he finally reached the stemcluster. He had spent an entire night walking through the dusty plains and another day spent without a recuperacoon. The shielding protected him from the harsh sun, but it didn't make sleep any more comfortable. The highblood also finished off the last of his food and water, as well. He had arrived at the stemcluster about halfway through the night. Still, the irate troll could appreciate the change of his surroundings. After all, this was his first time in a stemcluster. Dusty dirt was replaced with sidewalks and roads. The dark green hexagonal buildings towered above, reaching high into the sky. Large dark grey structures bulged out of towers. Huddled at the feet of these towers were smaller buildings, usually shops and smaller hives. However, the smell of so many trolls living together was almost overwhelming.

The most drastic change, however, was the number of trolls in one place. At any given time, there were dozens of trolls walking up and down the sidewalks. Most were lowerbloods and midbloods, but he could spot a few teals mixed in here and there. The streets were full of all kinds of vehicles. Some were large communal transport vehicles, while others were smaller personal vehicles. 

Most of the trolls were frightened when they spotted him, but that wasn’t surprising. Wherever a purple blood went, a subjugation wasn’t too far off. They avoided him in any way they could. Most of the trolls turned and hurriedly walked away or ran as fast as they could. A few even went as far as to run through the streets and traffic to avoid him, but that wasn’t the strangest reaction he received. A few of the troll actually laughed at him, but a vicious snarl sent them running just like the others.

As much as Lendrz wanted to find the nearest communal hive stem and finally get a decent sleep with a recuperacoon, he needed to get his hands on a new scuttlebuggy as soon as possible. Scuttlebuggys were luxuries exclusive to at least teals, even if lowbloods could afford it. Purchases were monitored by the Empire, so it would take some time to receive it. Luckily, they were also insured through the empire, so he didn’t have to purchase a new one.

The highblood leaned against a building and retrieved his husktop. He opened the map of the stemcluster and briefly scanned it. There was a dealer close by that he could try. He stashed his husktop away and headed there. 

Lendrz stared up at the small green building. It wasn’t the building that stood out. It was the large gaudy neon sign on top of it that stood out. The sign rivaled the size of the building itself, shining a bright yellow. It almost hurt to look at it directly at it. “Best scuttlebuggys around,” he muttered to himself as he strained his eyes read it. A large lot full of all kinds of vehicles, both new and old, was behind it. The highblood finally entered the dealership.

An electronic chime announced his entrance into the cool air-conditioned building. The interior was modern and welcoming. A teal blood stood behind a large wooden desk. His face lit up when Lendrz entered. He stood up to and went to greet him in a hurry. When he reached the highblood, he took his hand and began vigorously shaking it.

“Greetings, honorable Subjugator. In the market for new or pre-owned vehicles? Well, you came to the right place. I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for here.”

Lendrz yanked his hand from the teal’s grasp and crossed his arms, unimpressed. “I already bought a scuttlebuggy. Do you have some kind office where I can make a claim.”

Just like that, the teal’s face dropped, and eyes dulled. “Yeah, it’s over there,” he said, jabbing his thumb at a door. He went back to his desk and sat down, watching the door with a bored expression.

Lendrz entered the room. This room was much smaller than the main room. The only thing inside it was a small desk with another a computer and another teal behind it. This troll’s desk was full of clutter. From pens and pencils to stacks of paper and folders. The teal looked him up and down. He raised an eyebrow when he saw his clothing, but when he reached his face… he burst out in laughter. The teal almost fell out of his seat in his laughing fit. Lendrz scowled and tapped his foot, waiting for the teal to finish. Finally, the teal’s laughter faded into a wheeze as he recovered. 

“I-I’m sorry. It’s jus-have you seen your face?” he asked as he wiped a teal tear from his eye.

“No. What are you talking about?” Lendrz asked.

“Hold on. I probably have a mirror around here somewhere.” the teal said as he rummaged around the clutter on his desk. After a moment, he pulled out a handheld and held it out to him.

Lendrz’s jaw dropped when he saw his reflection. A smooth even coat of white paint covered most of his face, but that wasn’t what shocked him. The paint was brushed away from his cheeks and mouth, forming whiskers and a feline smile. Nepeta! Whatever, I don’t have time for this.

“Listen, I just need to make an insurance claim. Can you do that for me?” 

The teal sat up straight and spoke professionally. “What’s your name, and how was your vehicle damaged?”

“Lendrz Ridrez. A couple of flarpers attacked me when I went north from my hive into the woods. My scuttlebuggy got trashed, and I had to leave it behind. I had to jump into a river to get away. It carried me northeast. Then, I went north until I reached this stemcluster, using this shielding during the day, which is also the only part left in one piece,” Lendrz said as he emptied his sylladex of the top two items, his husktop and the shielding. 

The teal took the shielding from Lendrz and examined it. After he was finished, the teal handed it back to the highblood. “Alright, it’s gonna take some time for the request to process. Come back in a night or two. You might also want to see about getting some new clothes,” the teal said, gesturing to his tattered clothing.

“Thanks for the advice,” he replied. _Looks like I still have a few more errands to run before I can get a decent sleep_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz was exhausted when he leaned back in his chair, away from his husktop. He was currently staying in a communal hive stem. The highblood had spent the night replacing his ruined clothing with an identical set, purchasing white paint, and finding something to eat. He had just finished messaging Gamzee and Nepeta, telling them that he had reached the stemcluster safely and was waiting for a replacement scuttlebuggy. When he confronted Nepeta about the paint, she just laughed it off, much to his irritation. But, he quickly forgave her. He asked Gamzee to check on his lusus, and tell the shellbeast that he was fine. Both were relieved when he told them the news, but he didn’t tell them about the black box from the delivery drone.

He eyed the simple box next to his husktop. Whatever was inside should tell him what went wrong with his delivery. He took the box in his hands and felt around for a way to open it. His fingers brushed across the nearly invisible line, and he flipped it open. Inside was a small flash drive nestled inside it. He took it out and examined it. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Lendrz plugged it into his husktop and opened the file. The highblood was greeted with footage from the delivery drone’s perspective as it flew through the air. Around the edges of its sight were numbers and data that Lendrz didn’t understand. He did recognize one set of data that displayed the drone’s destination, his hive coordinates The screen suddenly began to flicker and static his most of the footage. The droned dipped sharply, almost crashing into the earth below. It began to fly out of control as it struggled to stay in the air despite the interference. A large mass of stone filled the drone’s vision before fading static completely replaced the footage. Something must have interfered with it, and it crashed into the stone formation, knocking the black box out of it.

_Wait, what was that?_

He rewound the footage when it first began to flicker. The destination changed with the first flicker. It looked familiar. He checked his coordinates and compared it to the one on the screen.

_The drone was heading somewhere in this city! If I find those coordinates, then I find my package and the person who hacked the drone. It’s already day, so I have to wait for tomorrow._

Lendrz closed his husktop, wiped the paint from his face, and headed to the recuperacoon to finally get a good sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere…

“I’m telling you, I’ve seen that sign somewhere. I just know it,” Vriska said as she rummaged through her closet

Terezi stood behind the spider obsessed troll with her arms crossed. “You're still going on about that asshole’s sign? It sucks that we can’t get true justice without Gamzee bitching about, but that doesn't mean I can’t get even him. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen Gamzee get that angry.”

“How long did they say it would take to rebuild your hive?” Vriska asked.

“A week, at least,” Terezi answered.

"Ha! There it is,” Vriska exclaimed. She pulled out a thick purple journal. On its cover was Lendrz’s sign. “I knew it was around here somewhere.”

Tereze peered over her shoulder. “What is it?” 

“It’s a journal I found with my ancestor’s stuff. It belonged to her first mate. I haven’t read it since I first found it,” Vriska said, turning it around in her hands. Vriska flipped it open and began to read it.

“Don’t just hog it. Let me see it,” Terezi said as she kneeled beside her.

**EXTRAS**

"Here, I'll get some wood to build a fire," Lendrz said as he dropped the cholerbear in the clearing.

He turned away from Nepeta to gather wood. Lendrz heard the sound of tearing flesh. He turned and gagged.

"Or, you could eat it raw. That works, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this one took me awhile. This time, it's because I had finals last week, and I spent the week before finals studying. That being said, this chapter could have gone up a few days earlier, but I've also been playing Monster Hunter World. So, sorry about that, I guess. By the way, if anyone notices any inconsistencies in troll terminology, just tell me, and I'll fix it, except for the grub trials chapters. But, I won't change it into words like gander nuggets and torso pillar because that just sounds stupid. I also edited the earlier to make Nepeta taller.
> 
> (Wow, this is the first chapter where more than one person left a review. Also, first one hundred hits!)
> 
>  
> 
> **REVEIWS**
> 
>  
> 
> bookwormSpacer  
> Like I said before, I'm not sure what to save for SBURB and what to save for Alternia. Since SBURB destroys the world, it invalidates some conflicts. I'm gonna spend some more time on Alternia than the actual comic does because I want to explore troll society.
> 
> doomedbloodTwins  
> So far, I haven't intentionally written anything to be romantic, pale or red for Lendrz. Thaks for trying to help.
> 
> If anyone's wondering why I put a review segment, it's because I'm just used to fanfiction.net.


	6. Blast From the Past

Lendrz walked out of the communal stem hive stem and stepped into the streets. The sun had just disappeared beyond the horizon, and the twin green and pink moons illuminated the streets with their soft light. The stem cluster was mostly devoid of life. Only a handful of trolls were out and about, doing their nightly business. The highblood had checked his husktop before leaving. The drones coordinates had pointed towards the other side of the stemcluster. It would be quite a walk to get there. With his destination in mind, he walked down the streets.

The coordinates had led him led him to a seedier part of the stemcluster. The two moons had risen higher into the sky, shining brighter than before. The streets and communal stem hives had been replaced with identical-looking tight alleys and side streets. One could easily get lost in this urban labyrinth. What few trolls were around hid away into the nooks and crannies whenever they saw him approaching, they whispered softly among themselves as he passed, but the highblood couldn’t make out what they were saying. Lendrz squared his shoulders, leaned forward, and hurried forward. He wanted to get out of this part of the stem cluster as soon as possible.

Soon, he turned the corner and arrived at the scene where the drone was set to land. Lendrz didn’t know what to expect when he arrived at the location, but he did expect something. A damaged wreck of a drone, some shards of metal, or even his abandoned package, but no luck. All he was greeted with was an empty identical ally, save for some trash littering about.

“Fuck. There’s nothing here. Whoever hacked the drone must already got what they needed. Looks like I’m out of leads.” From behind Lendrz, something clattered. The highblood snapped around, eyes focusing on a puny rust blood dressed in dingy clothing hiding around the corner. A glass bottle rolled away from her foot. The lowblood stood, rooted to the spot for a moment before turning and dashing away.

There had to be a reason why the lowblood would risk spying on highblood, a subjugator no less. Lendrz’s only lead on his package was getting away from him. Lendrz ran after the lowblood. He turned the corner and saw the lowblood running down the alley. Lendrz charged down the alley after her. The lowblood turned to look back, fear on her face. Lendrz was gaining fast on the lowblood. The rust grabbed onto trash cans and knocked them it into Lendrz’s path, but the highblood barreled through anything in his path without even slowing down. Once the rust was close enough, Lendrz tackled her, bringing her to the ground. She twisted and squirmed in the highblood’s grasp, but Lendrz’s grip was too strong to escape from. He maneuvered the rust into a chokehold. 

“Hey! Let me go!” the rust yelped, not stopping her struggles for a moment.

“Calm down already! I just need to ask you something,” Lendrz shouted angrily.

She kept up her struggles for a moment before giving up. “Okay, okay. Just don’t kill me,” she stammered out.

“I won’t if you tell me what happened in that alley in the last few days,” Lendrz demanded.

She hesitated for a moment before answering. “I saw a drone deliver a package here a few days ago. I was waiting around to see if another one would come, so I could… take whatever it’s carrying,” she said finally.

“Who picked up the package? Where did they go?” Lendrz asked.

“A goldblood picked it up with his psionics. I followed him back to his hive. I can take you there,” she offered.

“Fine. Just don’t try anything. I won’t be so nice a second time,” Lendrz warned.

Lendrz released his grip on the rust, letting her flop onto the ground. She quickly stood back up, eying Lendrz nervously. 

“Come on. Let’s go,” said Lendrz.

The rust started traveling through the alleys and side streets with practiced ease, occasionally throwing a nervously glance behind her at Lendrz. Soon, she led him out of the slums and back out into the streets. They reached one of the many communal hive stems.

“I saw go in there,” she said pointing at the entrance.

“Which room?” Lendrz asked, looking at the entrance.

“I don’t know. I didn’t follow him inside.”

“Alright, just get the fuck out of here.”

Relief washed over the rust when she was told to leave. She dashed back the way she came without a moment’s hesitation. Lendrz watched her disappear around the corner before turning back to his destination. The troll who stole hacked the delivery drone and stole his package was inside the communal hive stems, but his room was still unknown. Confronting the troll would also prove to be a challenge in itself. The rust had told him that the goldblood possessed physionics as well, which was fairly common for the lowerbloods. More than likely, the goldblood powers outmatched his own. He would also most likely have to be cautious about telekinesis, another common ability among lower bloods. There wasn’t much Lendrz could do to defend himself from getting crushed into a bloody pulp or slammed against the floor and walls until he expired as soon as the goldblood laid eyes on him. 

Upon entering the building, Lendrz was greeted with a small empty lobby. Hallways stretched in either direction with dozens of doors littered each wall. Lendrz sighed and his shoulders sagged.

_Better start with door number one._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz dragged his feet as he soldiered on to yet another one of the identical doors. It was with a heavy hand that he knocked on the door. He had spent the better part of the night going from door to door asking about the whereabouts of his package. Lendrz recalled his encounter with the tower’s residents as he waited for someone to answer the door.

 _Doubt any of them stole it. All of them were shaking in their shoes when they opened the door. Some of them almost fainted on the spot._ Lendrz chuckled to himself when he remembered the faces of some of the trolls.

Finally, the door opened to reveal a short bronze blood. The bronze gasped in fear he saw the subjugator behind the door. He panickedly tried to slam the door in Lendrz’s face but gripped the door’s edge with one hand. The bronze continued to try to shut the door in vain.

“Just hold on a second. I need to ask you a few questions,” Lendrz demanded.

The bronze finally gave up on closing the door and looked up at him. “W-what do you need?’” he asked, struggling to get the words out.

“I’m looking for a gold blood carrying around a wrecked delivery drone with psionics. Have you seen anything like that?”

The bronze avoided his glare and thought for a moment. “Well, I did see some red and blue flashing a while back. I looked out my door and saw a troll carrying something through that door,” he answered, pointing at a door at the end of the hall.

Lendrz nodded and finally let go of the door. The rust wasted no time slamming the door shut. The highblood turned to the door the rust pointed at and walked up to it.

_This is going to be tough dealing with this gold blood. I’ll have to be careful around this one. I have to make sure he doesn’t even have a chance to use his physionics._

He knocked on the door and prepared himself for the door to open. There was nothing but silence on the other side of the door. He was about to knock more forcefully before the door opened up a crack.

Lendrz jumped into action. He jerked the door open and lunged at the troll behind the door. The gold screamed as he was knocked to the ground. The gold’s head knocked painfully against the hard floor. While the gold was stunned, Lendrz wrenched the troll to his feet and held him in a tight headlock.

“Okay, asshole, what did you do with my package!?” Lendrz demanded.

The struggled and gasped in his hold. “Maybe I could say something if you leth me breath, fucker,” the gold manage to gasp out with a lisp.

“I wasn’t hatched yesterday. Try anything, and you’ll regret it,” he said, tightening his grip for empathise.

“I donth even know what you want!”

“You know exac-urg!” the gold blood quickly smashed the back of his head in Lendrz’s face, cutting Lendrz mid-sentence. The blow didn’t have enough force to do any damage, but it was enough to make him flinch. A powerful pulse of electric red and blue energy exploded out f the gold blood. Lendrz was sent flying and slammed against one of the walls in the room. Before Lendrz could recover, he felt a strong pressure all around his body. He was lifted up in the air, a wispy flashing blue and red aura surrounding him.

Lendrz struggled, trying to break the hold the gold blood’s physionics had on him. The gold blood picked himself up and readjusted his glasses. The gold blood laughed when he looked at the floating subjugater. With Lendrz incapacitated, he could finally get a good look at the troll. The gold blood was tall and gaunt, with a small nose and sharp features. He had two sets of horns, a larger pair curved upwards and a smaller identical pair between the bigger horns. He was clad in standard clothing, a black shirt and grey jeans, but his left shoe was white and the other black. His sign was two horizontal lines with a set of lines on the top and bottom curving outward. A large set of fang poked out of his lips, probably causing his lisp. His glasses were mismatched; the right lens was red and the other was blue, probably matching the psionic glow of his eyes. Aside from his mismatched attire, the most unusual feature was his haircut; short jagged bangs clustered together with two longer bangs framing his face. The side of his hair was styled out and up.

‘“Alright, jackass, now it’s my turn to ask some questions. Leth’s start with who the fuck are you?”

Lendrz scowled and glared at him for a moment. “The name’s Lendrz Ridrez. I’m here because you stole something of mine,” he spat out.

The gold blood raised an eyebrow when he heard his name. After thinking for a moment, he spoke, “Why did you come here and break into my hive?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You hacked a delivery drone carrying something of mine!”

The gold blood stared at him blankly for a moment. After what seemed like a solid minute, he doubled over, laughing. “You tracked me down and came all this way for a fucking computer?”

Lendrz floated in the air, simmering in anger. “First of all, you don’t even know what I had to go through to get here. Second of all, if I had known all that trouble that I would have to go through to get it, I would have just ordered a new one. Third of all, fuck you, asshole.”

Lendrz scowled as the gold blood continued to laugh… and laugh… and laugh. “Alright, that’s enough!” he shouted.

Finally, the gold blood collected himself enough to speak. “Fuck, that’s just priceless. Okay, okay, I’m done.” The gold blood’s spirits were visibly lifted after hearing his story.

“So,” Lendrz began, “what are you going to do now?”

“I’m not going to kill you if that’s what you’re asking. I’ll let you down under one condithon.”

“Really? Just like that?” he asked confused. Having an angry subjugater around was a huge risk, and trusting one would be a leap of faith, as well.

“All you need to do is promise to play a game with me and a few friends when I say so,” the gold blood replied.

“A game? That’s it?” Lendrz asked, looking at the troll, confused. “What’s this game about?”

“It’s basically a really advanceth simulator. I”ll tell you more about it when it’s time to play,” the gold blood answers dead serious.

“Where can I get it?”

“It doesn’t exist yet. I’m waiting for a friend to find some code for it before I can start working on it.”

_What kind of game is he talking about? He’s making such a big deal about it... It’s only a game, I guess. I play them on my husktop all the time, anyway. How bad can it be?_

Lendrz felt the psionic hold on him disappear completely. He fell to his hand and knees with a thud. “Couldn’t have dropped me any harder, could you?”

“I could have. You want me to do it again?” the gold blood asked, sarcasm heavily laced into his voice.

“Whatever. Just forget about it,” Lendrz replied, getting up and brushing himself off.

“Now that you’re down, do you mind regaling with the tale of how you broke into my hive?”

Lendrz sighed. He was getting real tired telling the same story over and over again. “Because a certain asshole hacked a delivery drone with carrying my computer. I tracked down the black box’s signal when it crashed into some rocks, but I was ambushed by a couple flarpers, and my scuttlebuggy got wrecked. After all that, I managed to make my way here.”

The gold blood gave another short bark of a laugh. “Wow, you werenth kidding. Thath’s a lot to go through for a computer. The names Solluth, by the way.”

“Is it solluth, or is it that just your lisp?”

Solluth realized his mistake and tried to fix it. Emphasis on tried. “It’s Sollut- Sollut- Fuck!” He continued to fumble over himself for a few more times. Finally, he managed to get it out. “It’s Sollux fucking Capter! Fucking finally.”

Without the threat of painful annihilation via physionics, Lendrz had a chance to examine his surroundings. He was inside a small one-room hive. When he had been knocked against the wall, he narrowly missed a cluster of bee house mainframes and jars of mind honey. Large and rectangular, these bulky mainframes were powerful pieces of equipment, that produced mind honey. Mind honey was a dangerous psionic stimulus. When ingested, it would overcharge one’s psionics to uncontrollable levels. It could be useful under certain circumstances, but it’s best to avoid the stuff entirely. Lendrz discreetly captchalogued a nearby jar. _You never know_

Blue and red wires stuck out of the mainframe into a desktop computer with his symbol in red and blue in the back. Across from the mainframes was his recuperacoon shaped like a blood pusher with twin openings on top. Next to his recuperacoon was a pile of purple fling stars of various sizes and designs. Multicolored game grubs and piles of magazines littered the floor and desktop.

There was still some questions the highblood wanted answering. “Why did you hack the drone in the first place?” Lendrz when he turned back to the newly dubbed Sollux.

Sollux held his chin in his hand in an exaggerated thinking pose. “Hm, I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe because It’s illegal for lowbloods to own anything more advanced than a fucking toaster oven.”

Lendrz ignored the gold blood’s outburst. “How did you even know I ordered anything in the first place?”

“Oh, that? I just hacked your account and I’ve been keeping track of your purchases for sweeps.”

“ Wait, what!? You can't be fucking serious! ” Lendrz exclaimed, stupefied.

“Don’t feel to special. I do it to all my friends.”

Lendrz stared at Sollux for a moment longer. “Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “Just wow. I’m just going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Is that all you want, or do you want to waste more of my time?”

“Yeah, I didn’t come all this way for nothing. I want my fucking computer back.”

Sollux groaned. “Fine, I’ll get you your fucking computer. I have tons more anyway, anyway.” After a moment, a large purple package materialized in his hands. The package was plain, except for a sticker addressed to him stuck to it. “It's not even opened yet” he added.

“Wait, have you ever done anything like this before?” Lendrz asked as he took the package from Sollux. Once the package was finally in his hands, he stored it in his sylladex. _Fucking finally. All this for a fucking computer. Wow, this was not worth it, at all._

“Yeah. It’s the only way I can get my hands on more advanced hardware.”

“You know, if you keep that up, you’re going to get caught by someone else eventually,” Lendrz said.

“Pshht, as if. You only found me with dumb luck. And, even if another highblood manages to miraculously track me down, I’ll just take ‘em down. After all, you weren't that tough,” Sollux said dismissively.

“Except I wasn’t trying to kill you. I could have when I had you in that headlock earlier,” Lendrz said as he shrugged. “But, hey. It’s your life you're risking. Just don’t say nobody warned you if you get culled for it.”

“Whatever,” Sollux said, losing interest in the conversation. He went to his computer and sat down at the desk. “If that’s all, you can just let yourself out. By the way, I already know your trollian. Just be ready to play the game when I tell you.” He made a shooing gesture with one hand.

A growl escaped Lendrz’s throat, and his hands balled up into a fist. _The nerve of this asshole. He’s lucky I don’t feel like wasting any more time on him._

As Lendrz left, he called out to Sollux, “Fuck you, asshole.”

“Right back at you, pal,” Sollux called back to him and giving him the finger before Lendrz slammed the door shut.

Lendrz would have to hurry back if he wanted to make it back before sunrise. He should also check to see if his new scuttlebuggy was ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Just sign here and you’ll be on your way,” the teal said, pushing a paper across his desk towards Lendrz. He took the paper and signed his name. When he handed the signed paper back, the teal said, “I see you fixed your face paint.”

“Yeah, first thing I saw to after I left,” Lendrz answered.

“How did you like the cluster? You didn’t strike me as a city guy when we first met,” the teal asked as he quickly read through and organized a stack of papers.

“It was nice for the most part. It’s much more different than my home by the sea. I don’t know how anyone can handle being around so many trolls all the time. So many different scents of other trolls- It’s almost overwhelming. Didn’t talk much with anyone, though. Most people just ran at the sight of me. But, I’m just glad I’ll get to go home.”

“Yeah, it’s not every day you see a subjugater in a stem cluster,” Finally, the teal stapled the stack of paper together and filed them into his desk cabinet. He handed Lendrz a set of keys. “Here are the keys to your new scuttlebuggy. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Lendrz said as he took the keys from the teal. Lendrz exited the smaller room, past the main room and bored salesman. and into the lot. He spotted an identical replacement of his wrecked scuttlebuggy close to him among the others. He approached his new vehicle it and entered it. He settled comfortably into the new squeaky seat. Lendrz took a moment to lean back and decompress before continuing. After a few minutes, he sat up and brought out his husktop. He powered it on and opened the map to plan his route home.

 _Definitely want to avoid the forest. Don’t want to risk running into Mindfang or Redglare. I’ll have to go southwest, but there’s a large desert I’ll have to cross. Crossing the desert itself isn’t an issue, but the zombies can be dangerous._ Lendrz grimaced at the thought if the undead trolls. The sun’s harsh radioactive rays reanimated the corpses of unfortunate passed trolls. Zombies were usually found where the sun shined especially fiercely, but they could be found elsewhere, though that was a rare sight. Lendrz was fortunate to never have a stray zombie wander anywhere near his marsh. _Looks like it’s either zombies or flarpers… With the zombies, I can avoid them entirely in one day if I move fast enough, so that's my best option._

Revving the engine and drove to the city limits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Countless sweeps in the pass_

A towering behemoth sat upon an equally large throne massive stone room within the grand cathedral of the cult. The only light came from the torches lined against the walls. The troll was dressed in a heavy dark purple hooded cloak with lighter purple trimming matching his blood caste. The cloak hid most of his features. Only his chin and mouth wasn’t hidden in his shadowy hood. A thick purple line ran down the middle of his cloak. The line went on to form a circle around his stomach. The line split just around arm's length where they formed a rectangle around his arms and wrapped around until they met on his back. His horns were a much larger version of his descendant. In one hand, he held an elegant staff. The staff was made of a gold metal with black leather straps coiled around the middle as a handle. The top was fashioned to resemble a dragon’s claw. In the claw’s clutches was a perfectly smooth blue orb composed entirely of a variant of the same fluorite used by gamblignants. The rare mineral was a gift from one such gamblignant. This particular variant amplified the psionic power, along with the gold metal, making the staff a formidable weapon. 

The troll leaned heavily on one of the arms of the throne. He sighed in boredom as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand. A loud commotion interrupted his boredom. He could hear the sound of desperate struggles and shouting. The thick stone walls muffled the shouting, making it impossible to decipher what was being said. The sound was getting closer and closer until they reached a large metal double doors on the opposite end of the room. Finally, the doors burst open, and a pair of subjugglators entered with a bruised and beaten bronze blood being forcibly dragged along with them. The bronze blood struggled for all he was forth, but he was far too weak to break the hold of the subjugators. He hissed and clawed at his captors, spitting both insults and actual blood infused spit insults at the subjugglators. Once the subjugglators were within a few feet of his throne, they threw the bronze to the floor. The bronze sank to his knees and looked around the room. Finally, his eyes settled on the seated troll. Hatred and disgust spread across his face.

Both subjugglators bowed before one spoke up. “This scum was found withholding information about the resistance. He awaits your judgment, Sorcerer.”

“You can torture me all you want, but I won’t say anything!” the bronze suddenly shouted through bruised lips and shattered teeth. As he shouted, the two subjugglators began to back away from the bronze. “You’ll all fucking see. The revolution wi-Ahhh!”

With a flick of a wrist and a snap of a finger, a massive fire burst into life at the bronze’s feet. The fire consumed the bronze in no time at all. He kicked and thrashed in the roaring flames, screaming at the top of his lungs. The purple flame illuminated the rest of the chamber, revealing the rainbow splatter walls and scorch marks of previous victims in all their horrid glory. Soon, the screaming died down as he finally expired, replaced by the cackling of the purple flame. After a few moments, the fire shrank until it disappeared entirely. Where once kneeled a bronze blood troll was now charred unrecognizable corpse.

“Get him out of here,” the seated troll said, lazily waving to the other subjugglators. The other trolls bowed and dragged what was left of the bronze. Once they left the room, the closed the door behind them, and he was once again left to his own thoughts. The troll had not budged an inch during the entire ordeal. Normally, he would relish an execution. Watching skin shrivel up and blacken and seeing their eyes begin to boil within their sockets before he heard them burst with a pop. However, he had other thoughts on his mind on this particular night.

_Finally, my patience is rewarded. After sweeps and sweeps of planning and waiting, my plans will come to fruition.That pompous fool has sat on that throne for too long. A change in leadership is long overdue. Of course, the open position must be filled with a troll of intelligence, strength, and dignity. As the second highest ranking troll in the cult, who else could possibly fill that void but me?_

The sorcerer found his thoughts drifting to other pressing matters. _Hard to believe those revolutionaries haven’t given up yet. It seems the extinction of the lime bloods weren't enough of a message. Oh, the pyres I made of their broken bodies. Corpses stacked on top of each other so high, they reached to the heavens. Grands pillars of heavy smoke blotting out both the sun and twin moons. The sweet scent of burning flesh so suffocating and pungent, it was all you could smell, and you could taste it at the back of your throat._ The troll shivered in delight from the memory.

_This revolution would be so easy to crush if it wasn’t for their leaders. That bloody Summoner has built a massive army of beast. His communion abilities are the strongest seen in generations, and he has a wing mutation as well. Then, there’s the Signless. Reports on that one have been scarce. All the information we’ve gathered on him was collected from captives from the revolution. No matter how much they’re tortured, they keep their fucking lips sealed. Apparently, this Sightless is the unofficial leader of this little revolution; rallying the lowbloods and even a few of the highbloods together. Oh, I hope I’m there when he’s culled. The memory of the light fading from his eyes will be with me for the rest of my life._

The troll rose from his throne and calmly walked to the double doors. 

_It’s time. The Grand Highblood dies tonight._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Grand Highblood was a beast of a troll, even for purple blood standards. He wore a sleeveless shirt with purple lines across his chest, save for the middle, giving it a ribcage look. A pair of separate sleeves with thin rings covered his arms from elbow to wrist. Horizontal lines rain across his waist, almost like a belt. Pants with purple rings of various sizes covered his legs. Oddly enough, his sign was on his crotch, the same sign of his descendant. A large mess of unruly hair stuck out in every direction, even messier and bigger than his descendant. The same went for his horns. Monstrous face paint was recklessly smeared around his eyes and mouth. The Grand Highblood sat with a dignified air about him and an easy smile on his lips in stark contrast to his brutal and sadistic nature. 

He was seated in a large rainbow stained throne at the head of a large banquet. Sitting at his right hand was the Sorcerer in a much smaller throne. Other subjugglators were seated along both ends of the table. There were other tables lined up neatly with other tables as well. The hall was filled with the chatter of trolls and clanking of utensils and dishware. The air was filled with the rich scent of all kinds of meats, roasted vegetables, and spices. Chandeliers and candle holders on the table were lit in a futile attempt to lighten up the gloomy dining hall. With what little light the candles gave off, the sorcerer could just make out the colorful “mosaics” that covered practically every surface of the cathedral.

The lowblood servants had just finished dragging out what remained of the entertainment. Unfortunately for them, they failed to entertain the Grand Highblood. The sorcerer only picked half hardly at his meal and occasionally stealing a glance at the Grand Highblood. More specifically, his golden goblet left completely untouched during the entirety of the feast.

_Why won’t you just take a fucking drink! It took a lot of work to track down your private reserve of wine. It took a lot more work to break into them, poison every cask, and reseal them._

The Grand Highblood suddenly rose from his throne, the smile never leaving his face. The rest of the hall fell silent and all eyes were on him. Not even the clink of a utensil against a plate could be heard. He seemed to be content to simply stand and soak in the states of everyone in the room before speaking.

“Tonight,” he began with a deep booming voice, “is a very special occasion.” He paused for a moment. “Tonight, the blood of one of our own will paint the walls.” Everyone in the hall gasped, except for the Sorcerer who only raised an eyebrow. Chatter filled the air once again.

_It’s not every day a highblood is culled like this. A fellow subjugglator, no less. Wonder who it is._

The Grand Highblood gestured for silence. “This traitor has been with us for quite a while, which makes this so much more difficult.” He began pacing around in small circles as he addressed them. “This false brother has deceived us for sweeps, brothers, and sisters. He has been trying to undermine us from the very beginning.”

The more the Grand Highblood spoke, the more nervous the sorcerer grew. He was almost squirming in his seat. Sweat ran down his neck and his breathing shifted into quick, short puffs, but he couldn't seem to fill his bellow sacks no matter how much he inhaled.

_Calm down. Just Calm down. There's no way he could possibly know about the poison._

The Grand Highblood stopped just behind the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer was frozen in fear.

“And, that traitor is named Frizdt Ridrez, the Sorcerer!” the Grand Highblood shouted, grabbing on tightly onto his shoulders.

“Crap,” muttered under his breath as the Grand Highblood’s thick fingers dug painfully into his shoulders.

 

_**EXTRAS** _

Thanks again for helping me set up my new computer,' Lendrz thanked Sollux.

No problem. I can also transfer your files from your laptop if you want.

"Yeah, that'll be gre-wait!"

"Oh my god, there's so much porn!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done. The inconsistency of Sollux's wisp is intentional, so don't correct me on that. I wasn't really sure on how to write the Ancestor's chapters, but I decided to sprinkle them over a few chapters. I'm also maybe, empathize one maybe, thinking about making longer extras and one-shots, having chapters dedicated to them. Maybe accept prompts. They could be filler while I work on the main story, but that would make my slow updates even slower, especially now that school started up again.


	7. The Tailor In the Desert

The stemcluster shrunk until it disappeared into the horizon behind Lendrz. The plains had slowly transformed into a dusty red wasteland. His new scuttlebuggy kicked up great trails of dust. As he traveled further and further into the dessert, the hard dirt slowly began to soften into sand. As hectic and dangerous Lendrz’s trip was, he couldn't say it was all bad. He thought back on his journey as he drove.

_Meeting Nepeta was nice. She makes for good company, even if she was a little… eccentric. Plus, she the first troll that didn’t try to kill me on sight, besides Makara. Seeing the forest in person would have been amazing if I could have enjoyed the sights for five minutes without someone or something trying to brutally cull me. Seeing the cluster was also nice, even if a certain asshole put a damper on things. Well, the worst of the journey is behind me, at least. Just a straight drive back to my hive. I’ll have to message everyone soon._

Lendrz slowed his scuttlebuggy until it came to a stop. He shut off the engine and hopped out of his car. He stared into depths of the desert. He was close to the edge where the sandy desert truly began.

_It’s probably for the best that I wait for tomorrow. The brunt of the zombie hordes will be active during the day. It would be suicidal to try to drive through them. Got supplies_

Lendrz looked around where he parked to make sure the perimeter was safe. He walked around his parked scuttlebuggy, scanning the distance for any potential threats. He spotted a figure in the distance. 

“Who the fuck is that?” Lendrz muttered under his breath. He strained his eyes, trying to get a better look at the figure, but it was much too far away to make out any details. He could only identify that it was vaguely troll-shaped and heading in his direction with an unsteady gait. Lendrz frowned but decided to wait for the figure to come closer before doing anything rash. He leaned against the scuttlebuggy, keeping an eye on the figure as it approached. 

The figure’s foul stench gave away its identity far before he could see what it was. Lendrz’s nose curled up in disgust from the putrid smell. Smelling of rot and decay, it was probably the worst smell Lendrz encounter in his life. Lendrz snapped to attention with staff in hand. The foul stench could only belong to one of the fetid undead. 

The undead came close enough to finally reveal itself. The troll it once was long gone. Its clothing was in tatters, barely clinging to it misshapen body. The flesh had taken a horrid greyish green and barely clung to its bones. Decayed muscles and broken bones propelled it forward as quickly as it could in a ghastly hobble. Its face was contorted into a nightmarish  
farce of troll’s visage. A deep distorted growl came from its decayed chitinous windhole and out through a mouthful of broken, sharp teeth as it stumbled closer and closer.

Lendrz scowled at the mockery of the troll. _What a disgusting creature. I’ll be doing the world a favor by destroying it._

The highblood formed a small fireball in the cage of his staff and flicked it at the zombie. The arcked through the air and struck it squarely in its torso. Burning limbs and flesh flew in every direction. Only a small scorched crater remained where it once stood. “Good riddance,” he said dismissively. The scent of burning rotten flesh had twisted his stomach, ruining his appetite. He would eat something the next night.

Once he made another check around his little improvised camp, he climbed into his scuttlebuggy. He flipped a switch and the shielding flipped over the seat. Lendrz began waiting for the morning. He was only on the outskirts of the desert, so he should be safe from the hordes of undead patrolling the wasteland. Unfortunately, he would have to spend yet another day without sopor slime. Lendrz sighed sadly, feeling hivesick after spending so long away from home. His mind had too much on it too fall asleep right away.

_I hope my lusus is holding up without me. He doesn't rely on me to feed him, so the old shellbeast shouldn’t starve. Hope the old coot isn’t too mad at me. I’m sure Makara would have messaged me if something went wrong. If only I had known this simple drive would have gone so awry. I just want to get back to my hive, cook and eat a decent meal, and sleep in my own recuperacoon._

Finally, Lendrz’s restless eyelids grew too heavy to remain open, and he fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz awoke just as the sunset. He flipped the shielding open, exited his scuttlebuggy, and surveyed the area. The stench of flesh had faded overnight, so he decided to use some of the supplies he packed from the stemcluster. He gulped down most of a water bottle and a few mouthfuls of cured meats before entering his scuttlebuggy once again. He gunned the engine and sped off further into the depths of the desert.

The wasteland was now completely replaced by soft sand and large rolling dunes. The dessert was beautiful in its own eerily tranquil way. The only sound he could hear was the wind whipping past his scuttlebuggy. There were no signs that any other troll had ever stepped foot around here. If it wasn’t for the occasional zombie, Lendrz would be positive he was the only troll whoever set eyes on this place. Great rolling dunes of fine red sand spread out as far as the eye could see.

Lendrz bit his lower lip in worry. He was well into the desert now. He had expected the trip to be much shorter, but he hadn’t accounted for his wheels to have such poor traction in the sandy terrain. His progress was slow and tedious. It was getting far too close to sunrise, and he still had a lot of desert to travel through.

“Shit,” Lendrz cursed when his scuttlebuggy suddenly lurched. His scuttlebuggy would frequently lose its traction. He stomped on the pedal, forcing his scuttlebuggy through the sand. “Should have got some sand tires or something”

As he traveled further and further, he noticed a large strange hive in the distance. The hive was composed of two large white towers. Both towers were topped with a massive orb on a pedestal of sorts, probably larger rooms. Oddly square shaped windows adorned its surface. For some reason, the owner of the hive had decided that it was a good idea to attach large swaths of fabric. The fabric ranged from polka dots and stripes to blue plaid and solid colors. They were attached to the bottom of the orbs and the ground below with black cords, making them almost look like sails. Some fabric draped between the towers. One of the towers rivaled the size of some of the towers from the stemcluster. The other tower wasn’t actually connected to the ground. Instead, it was suspended by an arch bridge and it was a little lower than it.

However, neither the hive nor the large swaths of fabric were the oddest thing in the desert. The lawnring was something else entirely. Despite being in the middle of the desert, a lush and vibrant grass surrounded the hive, like a dot of green in the harsh red sea. Trees were scattered around the grass. Their leaves were fluffy, almost cloudlike. A squiggly dirt path snaked around the hive itself. Lendrz had no idea on how someone could even begin to start growing anything in the desert. Lendrz eyed the setting moons. He was running out of time.

A loud crunch came from the scuttlebuggy. Surprised, Lendrz jerked the wheel sharply. He steered directly into an especially large sand dune. The scuttlebuggy plowed into the dune. If it wasn’t for his seatbelt, Lendrz would have been launched straight out of his vehicle. Not wasting a second, Lendrz jumped out of his scuttlebuggy and looked underneath it. 

Lendrz gagged at what he saw. He must have hit a zombie when he was distracted, and it gummed up the wheels. Shredded flesh and chunks of broken bones were all that was left. The front end of the scuttlebuggy was lodged deep into the dune. He would have manually dig out the scuttlebuggy out if he wanted to drive it out of here.

He heard deep raspy grones around him. All around him, the sand itself seemed to come alive. It shifted as countless corpse stirred from within the sand, sensing that sunrise was close. Slowly, the undead were pulling themselves out into the night. Lendrz turned to the distant hive. It was his only chance at making it through the day. He would have to abandon his scuttlebuggy for now and return for it when it was safe.

Lendrz turned and bolted towards the hive, taking care to avoid the grasping rotting hands. By now, many were just finished crawling out of the sand. The rotten horde was surrounded him with arms outstretched. 

The highblood felt a clammy hand wrap around his ankle. Dirty, sharp claws dug deep into his ankle. Lendrz cursed when he pitched forward and landed on his front. He looked to see what had grabbed him, and he saw one of the undead had grabbed onto him as it rose from below. Lendrz ignored the cold hand and jumped to his feet, not sparing a glance to look back. The hand briefly put up some resistance, but he yanked it away. With every second wasted, more undead arrived and surrounded him.

Lendrz turned back to the hive but faltered when he saw the full size of the horde. The horde had already completely surrounded him. So far in his journey, he had almost died several times, but this was different. This time, the nightmarishly twisted faces of long-dead trolls stared at him with glassy eyes devoid of any mercy or emotion, save for an insatiable hunger. Broken bodies slowly shambled their way towards him. He could hear the sound of their malformed bones grind against each other as the came closer and closer. The highblood thought that the stench of just one those undead freaks was bad enough, but this was another level entirely. He almost retched from how horrid it was.

_Come one, Lendrz. Don’t freeze up now. You have to make it to that hive, or you’re done for. You didn’t go through all that crap for a computer just to die now! You’ll just have to fight your way through these freaks._

The horde was so tightly grouped together that it was impossible to just run past them. He would have to blast his way through. His staff appeared into his hands, and Lendrz began channeling energy into it. He thrust his hand outward and a roaring cone of flame erupted from his fingertips. The flames swept through the horde, swallowing up every zombie into its embrace. Their rotten flesh stood no chance against the intense heat, and they collapsed upon themselves as they burned. The horrible stench intensified as well to nauseating

Trying his best to ignore the stench, Lendrz dashed through the gap he created before they could close in. A zombie lunged at him as he ran, but Lendrz bashed it across its forehead, smashing its skull, and rotten brain matter splashed across the sand. More undead clawed at his clothes and hair, but their long rotten muscle couldn’t stop Lendrz from ripping away from their grasp.

Lendrz had fought through the ring of the undead. Aside from a few clumps of zombies shambling their way towards him, the worst was behind him, but he wasn’t in the clear yet. Sunrise probably wasn’t even an hour away, and the hive was still a long distance away. Lendrz ran, avoiding the groups of undead and barreling through the occasional loner. Running through the sand was difficult, but he still easily outpaced the zombies.

After reaching the lawnring, the horde thinned out completely. The zombies chasing him hesitated before stepping into the grass. Out of breath and legs throbbing, Lendrz ran past the flowing fabric and finally made to the tower. 

The highblood slammed his fist into the thick wooden door and shouted, “Open Up! This is an emergency!”

Lendrz waited for a few anxious seconds for someone to answer, but he was only met with silence. Lendrz turned around. The undead were creeping in closer and closer. He would have to break down the door.

He felt a delicate hand grab him by the back of his collar and quickly pull him into the hive. Lendrz yelped as he landed on the hard floor.

The highblood was in a small circular room with a spiral staircase leading higher into the tower. It seemed the owner of the hive had a thing for randomly placed swaths of fabric. The fabric was draped over the light gray walls of the hive. Said owner with odd taste was currently standing over his head and looking down at him. 

The troll had a jade m that ended with a loop on her black shirt. She wore a black sleeved shirt underneath. A bright ruby red pencil skirt with large white buttons reached all the way down to her black slip on. She had feminine refined features and thick lips. A pair of fangs poked out of her lips. Most of her hair was swept to the right, curving along the side of her face. The back was styled upwards and outwards, reminding him a little of Sollux’s hair. Her right horn was simple and curved upwards. Her other horn was identical aside from a barbed tip. The jadeblood had an elegant air about her. A white tube of lipstick with a black stripe in the middle was held firmly in hand. She spoke with a smooth and refined tone.

“Might I inquire as to why you were banging on my door? Aside from the zombies, of course,” the troll asked.

Lendrz stayed on the floor, a little shocked from the quick turn of events. The jade blood began to impatiently tap her foot.

“Well?” she insisted.

Breaking his silence, Lendrz said, “Turns out driving through the dessert was a little harder than I expected. It gets a lot of harder when you crash it into a sand dune. The name’s Lendrz Ridrez, by the way.”

The jade continued to look down at him. She cautiously extended her free hand to him, and Lendrz took her hand. The highblood irritably noticed that she was about an inch or two taller than him.

“I was wondering what was agitating the horde,” she said as she helped pull him up. “It seems my morning walk will be delayed, to say the least. Is it safe to assume those purple flashes belonged to you?”

“Yup. Psionics”

A loud banging came from the door once Lendrz was on his feet.

“Should we be worried about that?” Lendrz asked, gesturing nervously to the wooden door. He could hear the undead as they slammed into the door.

“I assure you, they’re incapable of entering my hive,” she said, dismissing his warning. 

The jade looked him up and down. Her eyes locked onto something on his ankle. “It seems you’ve picked up an unwanted passenger.” She pointed at his ankle.

“What are you talking ab- Oh, fuck!”

There was a dismembered hand holding tightly around his ankle. Lendrz was too occupied with his escape to notice it holding on.

“Get it off! Get it off!” Lendrz shouted. He frantically tried pulling it, hopping around the room on one foot and kicking the leg with the hand.

“Oh, just calm down. It’s no longer animate once severed from the body,” the jade calmy informed him.

Lendrz followed her advice and stopped jumping around. He took a deep breath and bent down to remove the hand. He reluctantly began peeling the clammy fingers wrapped around his ankle off one by one.

Once Lendrz finished prying off the fingers, he let the hand drop to the ground. He shuddered. _So gross_

The jade casually walked to the hand a picked it up before turning to address him, probably to dispose of later.

“I’m afraid our formal introduction will have to wait. I need to cover all the windows, as it is almost sunrise. I doubt the sunlight would do much good to your complexion,” she said before climbing the staircase.

_It’s already sunrise? I really drove all night._

Once the realization hit, Lendrz felt a wave of fatigue. He leaned against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting. He let his shoulders relax and tried to ignore the groaning and thuds coming from outside.

_I just can’t catch a break, can I?_

When he heard the thuds coming from the stairs, he stood back up. The jade reached the bottom of the stairs and beckoned to him.

“Follow me,” she said. “I’ve covered the windows. It should be safe for you to come up now.”

Lendrz followed the jade up the stairs. True to their her word, all the windows were covered with the fabric. They weren’t the standard sunproof, instead being one solid triangular shape. The fabric was thick enough to block the deadly rays but thin enough to let some light in. The trend of fabric strung up on the wall seemed to a regular trend.

They continued to climb and climb… and climb. The stairs stretched upwards forever. They occasionally passed by other doors, but the jade ignored them.

When the pair reached the top, Lendrz was out of breath, but the jade was entirely unfazed by the climb. They had reached the large orb on the top, and into a modestly sized antechamber. A few bookcases lined the wall, reminding Lendrz of his own hive. Taking a closer look, most of the books were trashy romance novels about rainbow drinkers. Exotic looking potted plants decorated the floor and candlesticks were placed on the bookshelves.

The jade opened one of the doors and Lendrz followed. Lendrz didn’t think it was possible, but even more, fabric covered the walls in this room. Bolts of all different kinds of fabric were neatly arranged in racks. A large desk littered with a sewing machine and sewing tools; pincushions, scissors, pins, and so much more. A few chairs surrounded the table.

“Why did you take me here?” Lendrz asked.

“Living in a desert has quite a few disadvantages. One of which is the lack of trolls to volunteer as a model, and I won’t waste this opportunity. You need a change in clothes anyway. Have you seen the state of your clothes,” she said, poking his chest.

Lendrz looked down at his clothes. They were caked in sand and streaked with the grime from the undead. A few rips and tears were decorated his clothes as well.

The highblood shrugged. “Believe it or not, I’ve looked worse,” he said. “I don’t really care about fashion anyway.

The jade frowned, annoyed at his answer. “I honestly can’t even fathom why anyone wouldn’t care about looking presentable. Just stand over there. You can consider this payment for my help,” she said, pointing next to her desk.

“I think my clothes look pretty good. All the colors match my blood, too,” Lendrz said defensively.

“Matching your clothes with your blood color? How awfully cliche. I’m not even going to begin on the polka dots,” the jade said, rolling her eyes.

“Fine,” Lendrz said, taking his place.

“By the way, what’s your name?” he asked,

“You may address me as Kanaya Maryam,” she said, grabbing a tape measure from her desk.

“Hold out your arms,” she ordered.

Lendrz followed her directions. Kanaya scratched the tape measure and measured his arms and shoulders. She jotted down the measurements onto a notepad on her desk. She quickly and efficiently began taking his torso and wait for measurements. She worked in complete silence.

“What made you decide to set up here? I know we were wrigglers when we picked out our hives, but living here seems like way too much trouble. Your jade blood, so you had so many options,” Lendrz said, trying to start up a conversation.

“As a jade blood, I can endure the sunlight just fine. Even at a young age, I knew I would enjoy the sun here. Enough so that it would outweigh the obvious negatives. The hive itself had already existed,” Kanaya answered, not even slowing in her measurement.

The jade caste had a unique position. While they were technically midbloods, they were also a rarity. Jades were also given the special task of taking care of every new generation of grubs when the next clutch was ready. That meant they were also the only caste that regularly returned to Alternia after the ascended when the eggs were laid. Being able to stand the sun was a unique trait exclusive to jade bloods. It was also rumored that some jade bloods could turn into rainbow drinkers, undead creatures that stalked the day, radiating light from their skin and drinking blood. If rainbow drinkers were real, it’s said that these traits don’t surface until around maturity or extremely traumatic experiences.

Lendrz felt a small pang of jealousy when she brought up the sun. He briefly wondered what it would be like to feel the sun’s warmth on his skin, but he quickly brushed that thought away.

“How did you manage to grow your lawn ring out here?”

“There’s an underground river that runs underneath my hive. I just had my lusus tunnel into it, so I could collect the water. However, I did cultivate the trees myself,” she answered with a hint of pride in her voice.

“Well, you did a great job with the place.”

“Thank you. Now, I’m just about finished with my measurements. I just need the inseam, so prepare yourself.”

“Why? What’s an inseam? Hey! Be careful!”

“Rest assured, this is entirely professional matter. You don’t need to worry about me being attracted to you.”

“Hey!”

“And, we’re finished,” Kanaya finally said, putting the tape measure back on the table. It’s going to take some time before your new outfit is ready. It well into the morning, so I would imagine your quite tired. Unfortunately, I lack a spare recuperacoon, so you’ll have to make due.”

Lendrz yawned and said, “You mind if I stick around here a little longer? I should probably answer some messages on Trollian.”

“That’s fine.”

Lendrz pulled up a seat and materialized his husktop onto his lap and opened Trollian. He expected a few messages from his friends, but he also received messages from a few strangers.

First, he answered Gamzee.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]

TC: HeY bRo

TC: hOw yOu hOlDiNg Up

CE: Don’T WorrY, MakarA.

CE:I’M StilL FinE. RaN IntO A LittlE TroublE IN ThE DesserT, BuT I’M FinE.

CE: I’lL TelL YoU AlL AbouT OncE I’M BacK.

CE: ToO TireD TO BotheR RighT NoW.

TC: ThAtS SoMeGoOd mOtHeRfUcKiN NeWs

CE: HoW ArE ThingS ON YouR EnD? 

TC: I JuSt bE OvEr hErE ChIlLiN AnD ShIt 

TC: YoUr lUsUs iS BuMmEd yOu aInT HeRe 

TC: BuT I JuSt bE TeLlInG HiM To cHiLl 

TC: That’S GooD TO HeaR. 

TC: LiStEn lEnBrO

TC: I NeEd tO TeLl yOu sOmEtHiNg iMpOrTaNt

TC: ItS AbOuT ThOsE FlArPeRs

CE: …

CE: WhaT AbouT TheM?

TC: YoU SeE…

TC: ThOsE TwO ArE AcTuAlLy mY FrIeNdS 

CE: WhaT!? ThosE AssholeS!? 

TC: JuSt cHiLl oUt lEnBrO 

TC: LeT Me eXpLaIn 

TC: OnE Of tHeM HaS A WiCkEd sPiDeR LuSeS AnD ShE FlArPs tO FeEd iT 

TC: AnD ThE OtHeR JuSt hElPs a sIs oUt 

CE: SO, TheY WerE GoinG TO FeeD MY CorpsE TO A GianT FuckinG SpideR? You’rE NoT MakinG AnythinG BetteR, MakarA. 

TC: LiStEn lEnBrO IvE BeEn hOlLeRiN At tHeM FoR A WhIlE 

TC: ThEy dRoPpEd a mEsSaGe aT YoU TrY TaLkInG WiTh tHeM 

CE: FinE. BeforE I TalK TO Them, I WanT TO KnoW TheiR ReaL NameS. I Don’T WanT TO CalL TheM BY TheiR StupiD FlarP NameS. 

TC: My tEaL SiS GoEs bY TeReZi pYrOpE AnD HeR SiS GoEs bY VrIsKa sErKeT 

CE: AlrighT, We’lL TalK WheN I’M BacK. 

condemnedEradicator [CE] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC] 

The message Gamzee talked about was actually an invitation to a memo. A gallowsCalibrator and an arachnidsGrip were in the memo. There were other handles Lendrz didn’t recognize, but first, he had something to say to the two flarpers.

condemnedEradicator [CE] joined the memo

CE: FucK YoU, YoU FuckinG FuckS!

GC: >:o *G4SP*

GC: NOW NOW 1S TH4T 4NYW4Y TO T4LK TO 4 L4DY

CE: WelL, ExcusE ME FoR NoT BeinG VarY CiviL WitH ThE TrollS WhO TrieD TO KilL ME.

AG: It's not our fault your too much of a dum8ass to not walk right into a live flarp session.

CE: FinE, FucK It. WhateveR.

CE: I’M NoT HerE TO ArguE. MakarA SaiD I ShoulD TalK TO YoU TwO, SO WhaT DO YoU WanT?

AG: As much as we want to get even, Gamzee has 8een 8itching at us non stop to let it go.

CE: ReallY? JusT LikE ThaT? EveN AfteR I BurneD OnE OF YouR HiveS?

GC: OH DONT WORRY 

GC: 1 D1DNT FORG3T 4BOUT TH4T

GC: 1N F4CT 1LL R3M3MB3R TH4T FOR 4 LONG LONG T1M3

GC: H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3

CE: FirsT OF AlL, That’S TotallY NoT CreepY OR ForebodinG. SeconD OF AlL, I’D LikE TO SaY YouR QuirK MakeS ME WanT TO TeaR MY EyeS OuT OF MY SkulL. 

AG: Oh!!!!!!!! 

AG: Such a shameless display of 8lack romance!!!!!!!!

CE: WhaT!

GC: *SWOON*

GC: 1 SHOULD H4V3 S33N 1T 34RL13R 1T W4S SO OBV1OUS

GC: 1T NOT L1K3 1 C4N BL4M3 YOU FOR H4V3 GR34T T4ST3

CE: AurG! I HatE BotH OF YoU SO MucH!

AG: Is one kismesis not enough for you?

AG: Do you have to drag me into you scandalous affair?

CE: AurughyfjuguiO!

condemnedEradicator [CE] left the memo

AG: That was way too easy.

GC: 34S13R TH4N K4RK4T H3H3H3

Lendrz massaged his temples and closed his eyes.

_The absolute audacity of those two. That's enough trollian for one day. I'll answer everyone else later._

The highblood opened his eyes to see Kanaya had stopped working with needle and thread in hand. She was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“A less than pleasurable conversation, I presume?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, still massaging his temples. “These two flarpers named Terezi and Vriska tried to cull me a while back. I had to burn one of their hives to escape. A mutual friend of ours convinced them to let it go, but damn are those two annoying as fuck.”

A look of realization dawned on her. 

“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Lendrz Ridrez?” she asked.

“Yeah. How do you know that?”

“That story has circulated around most of our circle of friends by now.”

“Wow, small world isn’t it?

“Indeed it is. While we’re on the matter of those two, I do hope you reserve your judgment of those two. I know your initial meeting with wasn’t ideal, they’re really not that bad.”

“I guess,” Lendrz grumbled back. Kanaya nodded and returned to her work.

Lendrz rubbed his eyes. By now, he was exhausted. He couldn’t stay up even if he wanted to. He would have to get back to all the other messages later.

“Alright, I’m done. I’m going to sleep,” Lendrz announced as he stood up and stretched.

“You may use the leftover scraps of fabric if you desire,” she said, pointing to a bin full of scraps of fabric near the table. “It’s not much, but it’s better than sleeping on the floor.”

“Thanks.”

Lendrz took a large armfull of fabric and piled it against the wall. He let himself collapse into it and fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz woke to see Kanaya just finishing tucking away her project. He yawned and got up, but he wasn’t fast enough to get a good look at it. The highblood felt sore and a little irritable after yet another night without sopor.

“Hey, Maryam, what time is it?” he asked.

“The sun has just set, and I plan on retiring for the night soon. I made some decent progress on your new attire.”

“Mind showing me?”

“You will have to wait until I am finished,” she said while shaking her head.

“Come on, really?”

“I’m afraid there is no room for negotiation on this matter.”

“Fine,” Lendrz conceded.

“I assume you will be moving on now.”

“Yeah. Are the zombies gone now?”

Kanaya nodded and said, “Yes, they should be dormant by now.”

Lendrz set his husktop on the table and checked his location. He was surprised to see he had traveled through most of the desert and was near the edge.

“Finally, some good news. My hive is less than a night away.”

“That is good news,” Kanaya agreed. “Let us return to your scuttlebuggy.”

The pair exited the tower and Kanaya paused by the base.

“What are we waiting for?” asked Lendrz.

“Before we continue, allow me to summon me lusus,” she answered.

She stuck a pair of fingers in her mouth and whistled and sharply.

One of the sand dunes in the distance began to vibrate intensely. With an explosion of sand, the stark white body of a lusus burst out from the sand.

The lusus had a large larva like body but a head that looked eerily resembled a troll skull. A larger version of Kanaya’s horn stuck out of its head. Three pairs of small insect legs sprouted on the front section of its body. A large pair of butterfly wings jutted out of its back. 

“It’s a virgin mother grub,” Lendrz whispered in awe. These particular mother grubs had refused to partake in egg laying and had chosen to raise young troll instead. It was the rarest of honors to be brought up by one.

“Indeed she is,” Kanaya said proudly. “Now, we have a scuttlebuggy to find.”

She beckoned for the lusus to come. It flew across the sand and landed the pair. The lusus bent its massive head and sniffed inquisitively. The virgin mother grub reminded Lendrz of his own lusus and another wave of homesickness hit him.

“Come on,” she said as she climbed onto the lusus’ head. Lendrz hesitantly climbed after her while the mother grub obediently stayed still. Its head was hard and smooth, just like a skull. Lendrz cautiously held on to one of the giant horns. If the mother grub was bothered by this, it didn't show it. Kanaya seemed content to stand without holding onto a horn.

As soon as the pair of trolls were on, the lusus took flight once again. The sudden movement almost knocked Lendrz off, but he held on tight.

“If I am not mistaken, I witnessed you run from this direction,” she said pointing directly away from the entrance of the hive. The mother grub obediently began flying in the direction where she pointed.

Soon, they heavily landed near his hive. Over the course of the day, even more sand had covered the scuttlebuggy. Only the rear poked out of the small mountain of sand.

“Fuck, it’s going to take all night to dig this up, and then it’s going to be covered up in the sand again!”

“Not necessarily,” Kanaya calmly answered. She lightly tapped on her lusus’ head.

The mother grub took a firm stance and began furiously flapping its wings. A great gust of wind blew the sand away. In mere seconds, Lendrz’s scuttlebuggy was free from the sand.

“Thanks again, Kanaya,” Lendrz said graciously.

“You said your hive is less than a night away, correct,” she stated rather than asking.

“Yeah,” Lendrz said, not knowing where this was going.

“You may thank me by helping with further measurements if need be.”

Lendrz sighed heavily and said, “fine.”

“My handle is grimAuxiliatrix.”

“Mine’s condemnedEradicator.”

“Until we meet again,” she said, waving goodbye.

Lendrz nodded in acknowledgment and stepped on the gas, leaving Kanaya and her lusus behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t until Lendrz saw the familiar salty ocean and marsh in the distance that he allowed himself to relax. Finally, his hive was within sight. The highblood drove through the marsh and reached his hive. He had to drive through most of the night to beat the sunrise. The pink and green moons were just beginning to sink below the horizon.

Lendrz didn’t bother storing his scuttlebuggy in his garage. Instead, he parked by his front door. He opened the door to his have to see that everything was just as he left it. By this time, his lusus had probably already conducted its checkup. His friends would just have to wait until tomorrow before he trolled them. After all, he had been through and all the time he spent away from home, there was nothing he wanted more than to collapse into his own recuperacoon and have a good days sleep in his own hive.

Lendrz entered his respiteblock. He didn’t even bother removing his clothes before climbing into his recuperacoon. The highblood felt the familiar numbing of the sopor slime as he drifted into sleep.

_I’m finally home_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The room quickly fell into chaos when the Grand Highblood announced the traitor. Subjugglators rose from their seats, plates of food and goblets crashed into the floor and fist slammed onto the table. Every troll in the room exploded into shouting. 

“Paint the ceiling with his blood!”

“Rip and tear him into pieces!”

“Throw him out during the daylight!”

The Grand Highblood leaned in close and whispered in Frizdt’s ear with a carefully measured voice. Frizdt had to strain his ears to hear his hushed voice of the roar of the rest of the hall.

“Do you take me for a fool, Frizdt Ridrez? Did you take me for another one of these mindless subjugglators around us? From the moment you came to this cathedral, I knew you would never be satisfied as my second of command. Your eyes gave everything away. They told me your hunger for power and control. I know because I had the very same eyes when I first arrived here. Truth be told, I’m quite disappointed in your lack of creativity. Poison? Really? I honestly expected so much more from you. The previous head of the cult become… disposed of when information that suggested he had gone soft circulated around the cult. He was torn apart within this very room, you know.”

The highblood turned to address the shouting subjugglators.

“All wonderful suggestions, brothers and sisters, but first I would like to offer our traitorous brother a chance.”

Boos and hisses reverberated in the hall. The Grand Highblood held out a hand for silence, and the obeyed.

“Now, Frizdt, tell me a joke,” the Grand Highblood commanded.

Frizdt paled at his request. If a troll succeeded in making the Grand Highblood laugh, they would be granted mercy, but in all of Frizdt sweeps of service, he had never witnessed such an event.

“Well? I’m waiting,” the Grand Highblood insisted.

Sweat began to pour down his face and his hand balled into fists so tightly his knuckles turned a pale grey. His staff was in his sylladex and the Grand Highblood still held him by the shoulders. He had to stall for time until he found a way out of this.

“W-why did the... cluckbeast cross the road?” Frizdt asked in a shaky voice.

“I don’t know, Frizdt. Care to enlighten me?”

Before the Grand Highblood had time to react, Frizdt stomped hard on his foot. While the Grand Highblood flinched and growled, Frizdt pulled himself away from his hold, upturning the table and his throne in the process. The dishware crashed loudly as they hit the floor and spilling food all over the floor. Before any of the other subjugglators could rise from their seats, Frizdt materialized his staff and launched a fireball directly into the ceiling. The large explosion of fire sent smaller fireball all over the hall. In a matter of seconds, the fire had spread all over the hall. The subjugglators scrambled to get away from the spreading flames.

Frizdt took advantage of the chaos and ran for the exit, a large set of double door. Unfortunately, the exit was at the other end of the hall, past the room full of subjugators.

The Grand Highblood moved to stop Frizdt, but a large chunk of rubble collapsed in his path.

“Cull the traitor!” he bellowed.

The subjugglators drew their weapons tried to stop him, but more and more chunks of rubble crumbled on to the floor, impeding their progress. Whenever a subjugglator got too close, he fried them with a burst of intense purples fire. 

Soon, Frizdt reached the door. He looked back to see the subjugglators struggling to control the fire. He burst through the door and slammed the doors shut behind him. Just to be safe, he set the doors ablaze as well. The sorcerer stepped back. The fire was spreading quickly, and he could already see the fire from the outside.

It was a shame, really The cathedral was a massive and beautifully built structure of stone and wood perched on a remote cliffside overlooking the sea. The nearest settlement was miles away, but Frizdt had another faithful mode of transportation. He calmly walked to the cliff and looked down into the white foaming water. The sorcerer stuck a pair of fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly.

 

Taking a deep breath, Frizdt jumped feet first into the churning water below.

**End of arc one**

**Extras**

Kanaya and Lendrz were both seated at her table.

“Hey, don’t you think It’s kinda convenient that everyone I’ve met so far are friends with each other?” Lendrz asked.

“Indeed. Remarkably convenient”

“Yup, almost too convenient”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is my largest chapter yet, it took me longer to write. It's over 6000 words long. It's because of the ancestor part. I'm probably going to alternate between Lendrz and Frizdt from now on. I also don't feel too bad about the geography because it's an alien world, so whatever. Let me know if I made any mistakes with the typing quirks or colors. I've also edited Terezi to be a little smaller.
> 
> Criticism is welcome.


	8. A Fall From Grace

Frizdt plunged into the freezing water feet first. He sank several feet into the dark depths of the water. He quickly fought his way to the surface. The Sorcerer broke the surface and greedily gulped the cold air. He kept afloat the water waster and waited for his ride.

He didn’t have to wait for long. The water beside him began to shift and a colossal white shell and a beaked head soon followed. The young shellbeast was his lusus, and he was the lusus’s first ward. He had to pull a few strings to keep his lusus around, but it was within his power as the second in command of the cult. Frizdt swam to his lusus and climbed onto its huge back with some effort.

The shellbeast’s head to turn to look at him and blink inquisitively as if to ask what happened.

“They discovered my plan, big guy. We need to get out of here quickly. I know just the place,” Lendrz said, patting its hard shell.

And the pair were off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Even more sweeps in the past._

Frizdt sat hunched over a filthy table in a shadowy corner of a dingy dimly tavern. The figure had a large heavy black cloak hiding away his features from the other patrons. Two sets of horns poked out of the top of his hood. Frizdt warily eyed the others in the room.

The patrons weren’t exactly the elites of society. The heavy musk of stale sweat hung in the air. Most were gutter bloods who came to get wasted on the cheap watered down swill the barkeep had the nerve to call alcohol. A few midbloods dotted the bar as well. Most were busy with their own drinks, but a few were having hushed conversations with each other. This tavern had a reputation of being a hub for less than respectable business negotiations, and the Frizdt was here for one such deal.

_She’s late. I explicitly told here to meet me here at midnight, but she’s not here! She better have a good reason._

He stared into his stained and chipped tankard full of murky brown liquid. His own distorted reflection could be seen on the surface. He was a young but harsh-faced troll. The entirety of his face was covered with smooth white face paint. A sweep hasn’t even passed since he reached his adult molt, and he still hasn’t fully adjusted into his unwieldy and bulky new size. 

The figure pushed the tankard away from him and began restlessly tapping his finger on the table. He wasn’t thirsty anymore.

The door slammed open. Every eye in the room was trained on the newcomer. She was sharp and beautiful, but the dangerous look in her cerulean eyes warded away any would-be admirers. She looked like she wasn’t much older than him. Cerulean eyeshadow and lipstick enhanced her dangerous beauty. A cerulean long coat with her symbol upon the breast reached down to her knee-high red boots. The sleeves of a bellamy shirt covered her arms. A large cerulean trimmed tricorn covered perched atop a head of wild hair that reached halfway down her back. An elegantly engraved cutlass hung on her hip, but as any Gamblignant, her dice were her most dangerous weapon.

Her cerulean eyes scanned the dark room, unaffected by the stares of everyone else. Finally, they settled upon the cloaked figure in the corner. She smiled and swaggered her way to his table with hand on hip and sat in the chair across from him.

Frizdt leaned in close and harshly hissed, “Your late, Mindfang. Do you have any id-”

Mindfang only raised a single finger to his lips, shushing him without a word. She beckoned to the barkeep behind the bar. The barkeep, a large broad shouldered and dour olive blood with a bored look on his face. He sighed and began lumbering his over to their table.

Frizdt scowled and simmered in his own anger. As much as he loathed to admit it, he needed help, and Serket was the only one who could provide it. She was an up and coming Gamblignant who had just recently acquired a ship after the previous owner fell on her sword several dozen times in a private meeting between the two.

The barkeep arrived at their table and asked with an uninterested tone, “you called?”

“Why, yes I did. My associate and I would like your finest refreshments,” she said, gesturing to the figure across the table.

Fizdt growled and seemed to sink deeper into his cloak to avoid the barkeep’s passing gaze.

“As you wish, miss.”

“Now, let’s get to business, shall we?” Mindfang said, resting her elbows on the table and cradling her chin in her hands.

“You’re late,” Fizdt repeated.

“Oh, don’t be such a prude,” she said, waving off his frustration. “A drink ought to put you in a better mood.”

The barkeep returned with a pair of tankards and carelessly dropped them down on the table, spilling a good deal of the drink.

Mindfang took one of the tankards and sniffed it with disdain. She splashed the tankards content onto his face and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him close.

“You call this a drink, you worthless sack of shit!?” she barked.

“I-I’m sorry, miss. I’ll get you something better, right away,” he managed to whimper out despite the fear etched on his face.

“No, you won’t get me something better. You’ll get me the best you have. And, if I don’t like, I’ll burn down this shitty bar down. With you in it,” she ordered.

Mindfang shoved the barkeep to the dirty floor. He crawled away before getting up and running back to the bar. He began frantically rummaging under it.

“I explicitly told you to be discreet,” Frizdt whispered angrily. “I can’t be seen here, let alone with you.”

“Drinks first, business later”

The barkeep returned with a tall bottle full of golden amber spirits and a pair of clean shot glasses. He gently placed the glasses in front of the pair and poured the amber liquid in the glasses. He moved to return to the bar, but Serket stopped him.

“Leave the bottle here,” she ordered.

The barkeep hesitated, but he ultimately placed set the bottle on the table with a remorseful look on his face and returned to his bar.

Mindfang took her glass and raised it to him 

“Cheers,” she said with a smile.

Grumbling, Frizdt took his glass and clinked it against hers before raising it to his lips, draining the glass in one quick gulp.

Frizdt’s face screwed up in disgust, and he hunched over coughing violently, dropping his glass on the table. His purple eyes began watering and his throat felt like it was on fire.

Serket only laughed at his misery. She opened her mouth wide and splashed the powerful spirits down her throat without a problem before slamming her glass on the table.

“What’s the matter, big guy. Can’t handle a little drink,” Mindfang said laughing.

“Silence, Mindfang,” Frizdt managed to choke out between coughs, wiping away the purple tears forming in his eyes, staining his robe’s sleeves.

Mindfang refilled her glass and his glass as well.

“Anyway, back to business,” she said, downing another glass. “Why do you need little ol’ me?”

Frizdt leaned in close and began whispering softly.

“Because you Gamblignans are the only ones stupid enough to do what I’m about to ask you to do. And, like I said, I want to be as discreet as possible. That means hiring someone who greatly renown yet,” he finished.

Mindfang perked up and said, “What are we talking about here? Theft? Murder? Loitering?”

“No, none of that is necessary. I need some forgeries delivered.”

MIndfang deflated and slumped in her chair.

“Really? That’s all? Forgeries? You got me to make forgeries? How dull?”

“No, I’ve already had them made. I just need them delivered.”

“That’s even worse.”

“I need them delivered to the Cathedral of the Mirthful Messiahs. More specifically, I need them to be delivered along with the rest of the regular mail. I don’t care how you do it, as long as no one ever finds out.”

That got Mindfang’s attention.

“Now that’s a challenge worthy of the great Spinneret Mindfang!” she shouted, excitedly with a wicked smile on her face.

“Keep it down,” Frizdt growled. “I don’t need to tell you that no one else can know about this.”

“You’re quite a bore, you know. What’s life without a little risk now and then.”

“I’m already taking a huge risk by giving you the forgeries. My name is on there, so if you get caught, I get caught.”

“What are these forgeries about anyway?” she asked.

“I don’t think you need to know. All you need to do is move them from point a to point b.”

Mindfang’s eyes narrowed, and she said, “If I’m going to risk my life, I would like to know why I’m doing it. So, explain, or you won’t get my help.”

Frizdt sneered, saying, “They’re falsified reports and commendations from trolls who I’ve personally made sure are… unavailable for verification. These papers should secure me a good position in the church.”

Mindfang nodded and said, “Ah, I get it. You’re a fraud.”

“I am not a fraud!” Frizdt bellowed, shooting up from the table, knocking his chair over in the process. He glared daggers at Mindfang, who seemed unfazed by his outburst. 

“I thought you said we needed to be discreet,” she said, nonchalantly examining her nails.

Frizdt’s eyes widened as he looked around the tavern. Every troll in the room had stopped their hushed conversations and drinking and were staring at the hooded figure. Frizdt lowered his head, propped his chair back up, and sat down. He glowered for a few seconds before finally speaking.

“Will you take the job, or will I need to find someone else?” he said, poorly restrained irritation in his voice.

“Of course I will. Sounds like fun. That being said, we have payment to discuss,” she said, grinning.

“Whatever your price is, I’ll pay, but you’ll only get half now and the rest when the job is done.”

“I don’t want your coin. What I want is far more valuable,” she said mysteriously.

“If you don’t want money, what do you want?”

“I propose a partnership.”

“A partnership?”

“You heard me right”

“What kind of partnership?”

“I imagine having a high ranking subjugglator at my beck and call would be quite the asset,” Minfang said, smiling.

“What?!”

Mindfang brought a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture with a smile.

Frizdt leaned in close and harshly whispered, “Are you insane? I’m already taking a huge risk being here with you, and further collaborations would only further risk my career.”

Mindfang leaned back in her chair and shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, if you don’t need my help, you could always get help from someone else,” she said, moving to get up.

Frizdt placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Mindfang looked back with a cheeky smile.

“Yes?”

“Fine, you have a deal.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Say that I, Spinneret Mindfang, am the only one with the skill and grace to do the job. And, that you’re lucky that such a great and noble troll is taking the time to help you with your pitiful problem.”

“...You know, I could have you culled if I wanted to.”

“You know, I’m the only one that could help you, and I’ll make sure you get culled along with me,” she retorted.

_As much as I loathe to admit it, she is the only one who can help me._

“Fine… Oh, great Spinneret Min-”

“Don’t forget the noble part,” she interrupted.

Frizdt grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms before he continued.

“Great and honorable Spinneret Mindfang, I beseech you to help this humble subjugglator with his humble task, for only you possess the skill to accomplish what I request. There? Is that good enough?”

“Definitely,” she smugly said.

“Good, Because that’s the last time you’ll hear that from me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“So, do we have a deal?”

“Let’s drink on it,” she said, refilling her glass from the bottle and gesturing to his glass, still full from the second refill.

Frizdt cautiously eyed his amber glass. He looked up to see Mindfang with her glass raised and the same mischievous smile he had grown so accustomed to in such a short amount of time. She lightly shook the glass, careful not to spill a drop.

“Well?”

Frizdt clicked his glass against hers for the second time that night. Mindfang downed her glass in one gulp without trouble again while the figure still had his glass full. His throat still burned a little, and his eyes only just began to return to normal.

“It’s not much of a toast if only one of us drinks,” she said, shaking her empty glass for empathise.

“It’s fine. I can handle it,” he said defensively.

_You already drank a shot before, and you could do it again. Surely, it can’t be worse than the first one… Could it?_

He hesitantly brought the glass to his lips. The strong smell of alcohol already burned his nostrils.

“Are you going to drink that anytime soon?”

Bracing himself, he drained the glass in one quick gulp. Once again, he was besieged with the burning amber spirit. He doubled over laughing with a burning throat and teary eyes.

Mindfang laughed, patting him on the back. After reclaiming his wits, the figure straightened up and blinked away the tears.

“I assumed the deal is struck.”

Mindfang nodded, still smiling, and raised her hand to him.

“Aranea Serket at your service,” she said.

“Frizdt Ridrez,” he said, taking her hand. His large hand completely engulfed her smaller hand. He handed her a thin manilla dossier under the table.

“That’s it? Shouldn’t there be more?” she asked as she pocketed the dossier.

“I can’t risk adding more. They might get suspicious if there’s too much. All the officers who signed off on them have met with unfortunate accidents, remember? Besides, there should be enough there to ensure me a high ranking position.

She stood up and began making her way to the door with the golden amber liquid in hand. Before she left the tavern, she turned back and called back to him.

“By the way, I expect full payment when the job is done,” she said with a wink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frizdt was seated in the same tavern, dressed in a similar cloak, in the same bark corner where he met Aranea sweeps ago. The tavern hadn’t changed much except for the accumulation of even more filth and grime. The smell had worsened as well as if that was even possible. He anxiously waiting for Aranea to arrive. 

Despite their rough beginning, the two had grown close over the sweeps of their partnership. She had become a great Gamblignan, as he expected. She used his help to ensure her ship remained unperturbed by Empire patrols, gave her leads to unprotected convoys, and made sure she received more than fair compensation on the rare occasion where she worked alongside the law.

The door opened and his longtime confidant entered. This time, grim urgency was set upon her face. Aranea had changed a little over the sweeps he had known her. Gone was the cocky and daring look on her face, replaced with steely defiance and strangely haunted look in her eyes. Despite their relationship and his prying, Aranea never told him what gave her that look. The Gamblignan simply refused to explain. She hurried across the room and sat across from him.

“I heard the cathedral almost burned to the ground. You didn’t tell me what happened when you contacted me” she whispered.

“I didn’t have time. I did what I had to do to escape and barely made it out with my life. My old lusus gave me a ride, and he waiting around the docks. Lucky for me, I had my handhusk and my staff on me, but everything else I had to leave behind. If the fire didn’t destroy it, the others would undoubtedly confiscate everything I own. I even had to dispose of my robes,” the highblood explained.

Frizdt visibly deflated. “I just can’t believe it. A lifetime of hard work and dedication ruined,” he bemoaned, cradling his head in his hands.

“Well, you were plotting to murder the Grand Highblood for sweeps,” she stated.

“Don’t even get me started on that. I should have just stayed as his the second in command. Now, I’m just a lowly fugitive

“How did he even find out about the poison?”

“He must have had someone watching me. Maybe one of his laughsassins?” he suggested, shuddering at the thought of one of those freaks. They were a subclass of subjugglators, specializing in tracking, stealth, and assassinations. Any sane troll would avoid their company.

“You think he sent a laughsassin after you?”

“It’s the only way he could have found out. The only two people who knew about my plot are sitting at this table.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I need to ask you a big favor… I want to join your crew,” he finally said.

Aranea raised her eyebrow and said, “Oh, do you now? I don’t just accept anyone into my crew.”

“You know better than anyone else that I’m not just anyone. I lead the attack against the lime cast, and I rose all the way to second in command once I made it to the cathedral.”

“I also know you cheated your way into the cathedral, and I know that you tried to assassinate your superior because you wanted all that power to yourself,” she retorted.

“Come on, Aranea. We’ve been partners for sweeps,” Frizdt pleaded.

Aranea paused to consider before saying, “Meet me here tomorrow. I’ll have my answer for you by then. I need to stop and resupply anyway.”

“Fine. Just don’t be late. I can’t risk anyone recognizing me. They already have wanted posters everywhere.”

Aranea left to attend to her ship. Frizdt waited a few minutes to avoid suspension before stepping into the cold night.

Frizdt stepped out of the bar and into the small town. Small hives and shops were crowded together. Dusty dirt roads ran through the village. How he missed the stemclusters and the cathedral. Technology was so scarce in the rural parts of Alternia. His handhusk was probably the only piece of technology in the entire town. The Sorcerer began making his way to the communal hive he passed by so many time before on his trips here.

It was almost morning and most trolls were already tucked away into their hives. As he walked the empty dusty roads, he passed by the town’s bulletin board in the town square. Most of the flyers were for mundane request, but a handful of them caught his eye. He paused to examine them.

One of the flyers only had a vague silhouette of a troll. This flyer had the largest bounty by far. Even a rust blood could live like a seadweller with a reward like that.

Beware the blasphemous lies of the Signless! Report any information to your superiors. Loyalty will be rewarded and disobedience will be punished.

Another flyer was dedicated to the Summoner. He was well muscled and tall. He was roguishly handsome with a daring glint in his chocolate eyes, but the revolution had taken its toll and hardened his features. A large pair of brown translucent butterfly wings sprouted from his back. The forewing was larger than the hindwing. They were almost shaped like flower petals with a pointed strip between the hindwing and forewing. He wore a shirt with the sleeves ripped off showing off his muscular arms and pants with strips of red fur decorating the front. His brown sign was a large circle just below his neck with horns wrapping around his neck. His short coarse hair had bright red streaks running through it. His iconic horns jutted outward from the side if his head before curving upwards. His horns were almost as wide and as tall as his wings. The Summoner’s bounty wasn’t nearly as high as the Sufferer, but it was still an absurd amount of money.

Fear the leader of the rebellion, the Summoner! Refuse his call to arms and report any information regarding his whereabouts.

The two other flyers were about the Sufferer followers. The Dolorosa was tall, mature, and beautiful in a stern, almost harsh way and the oldest as well. She wore a high collared cowl with thin translucent reach all the way down to her feet and her sign upon her breast. An elegant long-sleeved black dress covered her from head to toe. Intricate jade designs were all over her clothing. Her short hair was carefully brushed outward. Her simple and barbed horn poked out the top of her head. Her bounty was was lower than the heralds of the rebellion, but it was still nothing to laugh at.

The Sufferer’s most devoted follower Dolorosa is a liar and a cheat! Do not fall for her lies!

The last follower of the Sufferer was the Disciple. She was short but incredibly lithe and lean. The Disciple looked to be the youngest with chubby cheeks and a small nose. She wore a dark dress that went to her knees. The hem of her dress was ragged and torn into strips and leggings covered her legs. Olive green hoops circled her dress from her midsection and below. Thin pinstripes ran her just below her shoulders to her wrist. A thick olive line ran down to her olive shoes. Her sigh started at her side before looping up and around the back of her neck before reaching down and circling her breast. Smaller versions of her signs looped around her wrist and the back of her hands. A wild mane reached down to lower back and a pair of horns shaped like purrbeast poked out the top. Her bounty was the smallest of the Sufferer’s most important followers.

The Disciple is the ruthless bodyguard of the Sufferer! If encounter, proceed with caution!

The last flyer portrayed Frizdt himself. He stared at his own harsh scowling face. The horns were a dead giveaway. He glanced at his own bounty and clucked his tongue in annoyance. Compared to the others, his own bounty seemed trivial. 

_Really? Surely, the person who burned down the cathedral would be worth more._

Growling, he ripped the flyer off the bulletin and tearing it to pieces. The less he was recognized, the better. He continued to the inn without incident.

The communal hive was an old and large building, but still fairly well maintained. Most of the dust was swept away, but not disposed of. Small piles of dust were deposited in the corner. Ancient cobwebs hung in the high rafters.

Frizdt entered the building and scrunched his nose from the musty smell. He was in a large main room and a hallway leading to the other rooms. The hivekeeper was sitting behind a battered and chipped desk, leaning against back in his chair and dozing off. The innkeeper was short and meek looking bronze blood. It appeared the hivekeeper didn’t notice Frizdt’s entrance.

Frizdt approached the hivekeeper and stood before him. He waited for the hivekeeper to notice him, but he continued to doze off in his chair. Frizdt scowled and slammed his fist onto the rickety desk. Dust flew up in a cloud and the desk shook, almost breaking apart. The bronze woke with a start and a yelp, almost falling to the floor. Gripping the desk for support, he managed to catch himself before he hit the ground. Once stable, he looked up to the Sorcerer, face twisted in anger and ready to chew him out, but he froze when he looked into his purple glaring eyes.

“W-what can I do for you, most honorable subjugglator?” the bronze whimpered. 

“I will be staying here for the night,” Frizdt stated.

“Of course. There a vacant room on the top floor, down the hall and to the right,” he stammered out, reaching under his desk and handing him an old iron key.

The Sorcerer took the key and followed the instructions to his room, the wooden floor creaking loudly with every step. He turned the key and entered his room. The room was better maintained than the rest of the communal hive, but it was nowhere near the usual accommodations a troll of his station was accustomed to. The room was barren aside from an old orb shaped recuperacoon that could do with a change of sopor slime and a desk and chair. There was a single window to the door.

He only removed his cloak before climbing recuperacoon and let himself sink into the thick slime and relax. It was a tight fit, especially with his horns, but he managed to squeeze in to just above his lips.

_Aranea is my only hope. I don’t know where else I can turn to if she refuses._

Eventually, the soothing slime lulled him into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something was wrong. The creaking of the wooden floor right outside his door roused him from his sleep. Frizdt climbed out of his hive as quietly as he could. He conjured his staff into his hands and watched the door, waiting for the intruder to enter. Unfortunately, he would have to resort to using it as club or risk burning to a crisp within the old building. He glanced at the window. It was well into the morning now.

He neared the door, painfully aware of the creaking floorboards. Firzdt held his staff high, ready to bludgeon whoever was on the other side of the door. He shoulder charged the door, shattering it to pieces. 

His assailant was as tall as him, but much thinner with wiry muscles and clad in tight black clothing, and his face was painted like a laughing jester. Two simple long horns poked out of his short shaggy hair. He held a pair of short swords. Their serrated teeth meant to bleed their victims. A snarl twisted his face and hateful beady eyes stared back into Frizdt’s matching purple. It was a laughsassin from the cathedral.

Frizdt swung staff overhead, but the laughsassin weaved around his left and sliced a long gash from his shoulder to his arm.

Frizdt grunted as his purple blood splashed all over the floor and walls. Ignoring the burning pain, he spun around, smashing his staff against the laughsassin chin. Frizdt a crunch, teeth, and blood flying. The laughsassin staggered backward, dazed. Frizdt pressed his advantage, pummeling the other troll with his staff and fist, pushing him against the wall, but the laughsassin wasn’t pinned for long.

The laughsassin ducked under Frizdt’s fists and sank one of his swords between his ribs. Frizdt gasped and pushed the laughsassin away, breaking away from him. The Sorcerer stumbled back into his room and pressed his free hand to the blade in an attempt to staunch the flow of his lifeblood, but blood still steeped between his fingers. The sword had sank hilt deep, and he felt a burning pain burrowed deep within.

Frizdt looked up to see laughsassin charge through the doorway and tackle him through the door. Frizdt crashed onto the floor with a thud and his staff spun away from him. The laughsassin quickly took his other sword and stabbed it down through his palm and into the floorboard, pinning it to the floor. Frizdt cursed, but the laughsassin pressed his advantage before Frizdt could retaliate.

Frizdt gasped when the laughsassin twisted ripped the dagger out of his flesh and pinned his other hand to the floor. More blood gush profusely through the new wound. The laughsassin kneeled over him.

“You broke my fucking teeth,” the laughsassin rasped through his shattered teeth.

“I’ll break your neck next,”Frizdt spat back.

The laughsassin let out a coarse laugh. “Big talk from someone who stuck to the floor like an animal. You don’t have to worry dying here though. The Grand Highblood has plans for you. But, he didn’t say we can’t have a little fun. We have all day,” he finished materializing another pair of serrated swords and deftly twirling them in his fingers.

He leaned in close until his lips were next to Lendrz’s ear. “You know, I always knew something wasn’t quite right with you. After I finished my investigation, I found out your little secret. You’re a fraud. Everything you are is just a lie. I’ll make you scream every sin and lie out to the world,” he whispered with a broken smile.

Frizdt ground his teeth together, and the laughsassin laughed. 

“What’s wrong? Struck a nerve, Have we?”

“I. Am. Not. A. Fraud!” Frizdt seethed. 

His sclera reddened and his hands balled into fists, ignoring the short swords. He tugged his hands off the floor with the blades, but the pain was the last thing on his mind in his rage. All he could think about was wrapping his hands around the troll’s neck.

Frizdt headbutted the laughsassin, his horns digging into the other troll’s stomach. He felt cold blood spray on his face. The laughsassin screamed and lept back, pulling away from Frizdt’s horns.

Frizdt grabbed the laughsassin by the collar and began raining blow after blow on his face. He felt bone and cartilage crumble under his fist. Blood and teeth flew from the laughsassin face.

“I’ve worked for everything I had! And, I won’t have you insult all of my hard work!” he shouted as he continued his assault. The laughsassin’s grip on his swords grew lax as he grew weaker and weaker.

Frizdt smashed fist one final time with greater force, ripping the other troll’s collar and letting him fall to the floor. The laughsassin face was broken and mangled beyond recognition. The beaten troll mustered the strength to crawl away.

Frizdt easily walked over to the downed troll. He kneeled on his back and grabbed him by the horns. He began pulling and twisting the troll’s head by the horns. The troll garbled protest, but Frizdt continued. A series of pop and cracks came from the laughsassin’s neck. He gave one final spasm, and he went still.

“I told you I’d break your neck,” Frizdt growled, dusting himself as he stood back up. With his opponent lying dead before him, his rage faded and he was reminded of his painful wounds. 

He looked over at the dead troll and his own wounds. He tore off strips of fabric from the laughsassin and began winding the fabric in a makeshift bandage around his arm before beginning on his stab wound. Soon, he had bandaged himself as best he could. 

Frizdt made his way to back to the main room. He doubted he would be able to fall asleep again. As he stepped into the main room, he noticed something was wrong. The hivekeeper still sat in his chair, but he was unnaturally still. His head lifelessly drooped on his chest. Frizdt walked around the desk for a closer look.

Brown blood was splattered all over the innkeeper’s front and desk. His eyes were open, but they were glassy and unblinking. His mouth was half open and bronze blood dripped from it. The cause of his deaths was the large slash across the neck, almost decapitated him. Only a thin strip of skin connected the head to the body. Undoubtedly, he would find similar results if he checked the other room. The laughsassin didn’t want to be interrupted.

_There’s still some time before morning. I’ll just have to wait till nightfall._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frizdt sat in the same tavern as he did the night before. Luckily, his cloak hid his injuries. Word would have spread like wildfire if anyone saw the mess. A brutally culled laughsassin and a communal hive full of culled lowbloods would raise a few eyebrows, to say the least, He had burned down the hive and made sure everything inside was burnt beyond recognition as soon as the sunset.

Finally, Aranea entered the tavern. She quickly sat across from him.

“Well, I have some good news for you. After spending a day considering your offer, I agree,” Aranea said with a smile.

Relief flooded through Ridrez. “Not a moment too soon. I was right about the laughsassin. He managed to track me down from the cathedral,” he whispered.

“I assume the fire I’ve heard about was you,” she stated rather than asking.

“I had to make sure no evidence could be traced back to me.”

“Good. If it can be traced to you, then it could be traced to be. Now, onto more pleasant matters. You’ll be the highest blood serving under me,” she teased.

“Don’t remind me,” Frizdt groaned.

“Say, don’t you think we should drink to our new partnership?”

“...Fuck no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this chapter, I realized that you can't really do anything past morning. If you go drinking or something and stay past morning, you would just be stuck wherever you are or die in the sun. You'll also notice that I kinda switched the stemcluster being a lowblood to midblood thing. I kinda see it as something that changed as technology advanced. There's absolutely nothing to support me on this, but there's even less canon information about the ancestor's time than there is on regular Alternia. Next chapter will probably be a Lendrz one. By the way, how was the action scene? I've written a few so far, and I would like to know how good they are. They seem alright to me, but I want to know how you guys think.
> 
> As always, criticism is welcome.


	9. Here We Go Again

Lendrz stepped out of the absolutionblock fully dressed and with a fresh coat of paint on his face. A good day’s rest and morning shower left him fully rested and refreshed. After spending so much time away from his hive, even the simple pleasures of sleeping in his recuperacoon and showering under his own roof felt sublime. A few nights have passed since his escapades to retrieve his computer. He set up the computer downstairs on a small desk with an office chair within easy access of any snacks when he felt peckish.

Aside from a few changes, life had returned to normalcy. Gamzee had eagerly welcomed back in person when he got the chance. Lendrz tried to be more patient with Gamzee, remembering all the panic he put him through during his trip. His lusus tackled him to the ground with its great beaked head. For a while, it had kept an even closer eye on him than ever, but it soon returned to its usual habits. His roster of friends online had increased as well. Other trolls he hadn’t met had trolled him as well. He recounted some of the conversations as he headed downstairs.

centaursTesticle [CT]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

[CT]: D --> greetings highb100d  
[CT]: D --> My moirail has relayed your handle to me  
[CE]: WhO ThE FucK IS YouR MoiraiL?  
[CE]: SpeakinG OF WhicH, WhO ThE HelL ArE YoU?  
[CT]: D --> I believe you've had the pleasure of making her acquaintance  
[CT]: D --> Her name is Nepeta Leijon  
[CT]: D --> I am known as Equius Zahhak  
[CT]: D --> A pleasure to make your acquaintance  
[CE]: AH, SO You’rE ThE MoiraiL ShE MentioneD. Well, WhaT ThE HelL DO YoU WanT WitH ME?  
[CT]: D --> I simply wished to introduce myself to you  
[CT]: D --> Also, I couldn't help but notice your use of 100d language  
[CT]: D --> Such language doesn't befit a troll of your station  
[CT]: D --> I must respectfully request you cease using 100d language immediately  
[CE]: NO, FucK YoU. I SaY WhateveR ThE HelL I WanT WheneveR I WanT TO.  
[CE]: FucK, ShiT, DamN, CraP, EtceterA.

[CE]: ThaT LasT OnE Wasn'T “100d”, BuT YoU GeT ThE PoinT By NoW.  
[CE]: BesideS, WhO ArE YoU TO TelL ME WhaT TO DO?

[CT]: D --> Oh, my  
[CT]: D --> I think I need a towel  
[CE]: WhaT ArE YoU ON AbouT NoW?  
[CT]: D --> I'm covered in  
[CT]: D --> Sweat  
[CE]: ...WhaT?  
[CT]: D --> I am sweating profusely right now  


[CE]: YeaH… I ThinK ThiS ConversatioN IS OveR.  


condemnedEradicator [CT]  ceased trolling cenraursTesticle [CT] 

Frizdt shuddered slightly when he remembered that conversation. He could practically feel the creepy waves the indigo blood gave off through the computer.

_That Zahhak is an odd one. He and Nepeta make an odd couple, but if it works, it works, I guess._

carcinoGeneticist [CG]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

[CG]: SO, YOU'RE THE ASSHOLE THAT ALMOST GOT HIMSELF KILLED OVER A FUCKING COMPUTER.  
[CE]: ExcusE ME?  
[CE]: I Don’T think YoU KnoW WhO You’rE TalkinG TO.  
[CG]: I KNOW EXACTLY WHO I'M FUCKIN TALKING TO.  
[CE]: HoW DiD YoU EveN GeT ThiS HandlE?  
[CG]: SOLLUX GAVE YOUR HANDLE TO ANY ASSHOLE WHO COULD TOLERATE HIS BULLSHIT FOR MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS.  
[CG]: HE ALSO KEPT GOING ON AND ON ABOUT HOW HE KICKED YOUR ASS.  
[CE]: HE DiD What!?  
[CE]: ShoulD HavE CulleD ThE FuckeR WheN I HaD ThE ChancE.  
[CG]: IS IT TRUE?  
[CG]: BECAUSE I’M REALLY GETTING TIRED OF THAT SHITTY HACKER’S BLOWING AIR THROUGH HIS SQUAWK BLASTER.  
[CE]: FoR ThE RecorD, HE Didn’T KnicK MY AsS.  
[CE]: HE UseD HiS BullshiT TelekinesiS TO FloaT ME IN ThE AiR.  
[CE]: IF IT WaS A FaiR FighT, I’D BeaT HiS AsS EverY TimE.  
[CG]: ALL I HEAR IS THAT HE DID KICK YOUR ASS.  
[CG]: THAT’S ALL I NEEDED TO KNOW.  
[CG]: NOW, FUCK OFF ASSHOLE  
[CE]: YoU WerE ThE OnE WhO StarteD The ConversatioN WitH ME ME, DumbasS.  
carcinoGeneticist [CG]  ceased trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

_Fuck, what an asshole. Strange that he chose to be hemonymous, though. Either he’s a highblood who wants to be inconspicuous or a lowblood who hopes others will assume they’re a caste or two higher._

Then there was Vriska And Terezi.

arachnidsGrip [AG]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

[AG]: Hiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!  
[CE]: ThiS BetteR NoT BE AbouT GoinG FlarpinG, SerkeT.  
[AG]: Oh, come on. It'll 8e fun!  
[CE]: FuN IS NoT ThE WorD I WoulD UsE TO DescribE SpendinG TimE WitH YoU. EspeciallY FlarpinG. AlsO, YoU AnD PyropE TrieD CullinG ME, RemebeR. SO, I Don’T ReallY FeeL LikE DyinG AnytimE SooN.  
[AG]: Don't 8e such a wuss. We'll 8e on the same team.  
[AG]: If you're that worried a8out dying, we could do an easy campaign to start off.  


gallowsCalibrator [GC]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE]   
[CG]: Y34H COM3 ON L3NDRZ  
[CG]: 1 JUST KNOW TH3 THR33 OF US W3LL H4V3 TONS 4ND TONS OF TOG3TH3R  
[CE]: GreaT. JusT WhaT I NeedeD. ThE OtheR HalF OF ThE StupiD SisterS.  
[CG]: 1TS TH3 S1ST3RS SCOURG3 DUMB4SS  
[CE]: I KnoW It’S ScourgE. I WaS TryinG TO InsulT YoU TwO.  
[AG]: Well, mission failed.  
[AG]: Stupid sisters? Really? Sounds like wriggler came up with that.  
[CE]: ShuT UP!   
[CE]: ThE LinE IS ThaT I’lL NeveR GO FlarpinG WitH YoU AS LonG AS I LivE!  
[CE]: NeveR!  


condemnedEradicator[CE]  ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]  and gallowsCalibrator [GC]

_Those two are just unbelievable. Why do they want me to go flarping so bad anyway? I mean, they tried culling me back then._

Lendrz finished his thoughts just as he reached the end of the stairs. He entered the feedingblock to prepare breakfast. He quickly whipped up a smooth grubcake batter with practiced ease. Soon, he had large round dollops of batter cooking on a large skillet.

_Can’t beleive I thought grubcakes were a different kind of food entirely._

After they finished cooking, Lendrz flipped the fluffy brown disk-shaped grubcakes onto a plate into a large stack. He used a knife to cut a small pad of churned dairy product on the top of the stack. The dairy product melted when they touched the warm grubcakes, spreading over the side and dripping onto the plate. He topped the stack off with a generous helping warm tree blood. He entered his living block and settled on a loungplank after taking a fork and knife.

Lendrz placed his plate on the coffee table. He cut off a huge wedge of the entire pile before stabbing his fork taking the entire wedge and stuffing it in his mouth. His chewed the fluffy grubcake, savoring the sweetness. Tree blood and milk product dribbled down his chin. He wiped the surgery mixture off his chin with his sleeve.

A ding from his new computer caught Lendrz’s attention. He picked up his plate and brought it over to his desktop. He plopped on the chair and powered on his computer. Like he expected, it was a message from trollian. It was from the hemonymous troll from earlier. Rolling his eyes, Lendrz answered the grey text asshole.

carcinoGeneticis [CG]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

[CG]: HEY, FUCKASS.  
[CE]: WhaT DO YoU WanT ThiS TimE, YoU PiecE OF ShiT?  
[CG]: NO, SHUT THE FUCK UP!  
[CG]: AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE TO POINTLESSLY TRADE PETTY INSULTS WITH YOU FOR HOURS, WE HAVE SOME IMPORTANT MATTERS TO DISCUSS.  
[CE]: AlrighT, DiscusS AwaY. BuT, YoU BetteR NoT JusT BE WastinG MY TimE.  
[CG]: OKAY, LISTEN, YOU KNOW WHERE SOLLUX LIVE, RIGHT?  
[CE]: I DO. WhY?  
[CG]: WELL, HE'S BEEN OFFLINE FOR THE LAST FEW NIGHTS.  
[CE]: SO?  
[CG]: THAT FUCKER IS LITERALLY NEVER OFFLINE. I HavE BEEN TRYING TO REACH HIM FOR THE LAST FEW NIGHTS.  
[CE]: MaybE HiS ComputeR BrokE OR SomethinG. I’M SurE He’S FinE. I Wouldn’t WorrY AbouT IT ToO MucH.  
[CG]: WELL, EXCUSE ME FOR THE UNFORGIVABLE CRIME OF ACTUALLY CARING FOR MY ONE OF MY FRIENDS.  
[CG]: BESIDES, HE HAS MORE THAN ONE COMPUTER.  
[CE]: WhaT DO YoU WanT ME TO DO AbouT IT?  
[CG]: I NEED YOUR HELP TO FIND HIS HIVE. YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE HE LIVES.  
[CE]: WhY ShoulD I CarE? He’s YouR FrienD, NoT MinE. NeeD I ReminD YoU HE StolE FroM ME? I AlmosT DieD MultiplE TimeS BecausE OF HiM.  
[CG]: HOW ABOUT BECAUSE YOU JUST NEED TO FUCKING TELL ME WHERE HE LIVES. OR, IS THAT SIMPLE QUESTION TOO HARD FOR YOUR PAN TO UNDERSTAND.  
[CE]: I Don’T KnoW ThE ExacT AddresS. I CoulD FinD MY WaY BY MemorY IF I WanteD TO, WhicH I Don’T.  
[CG]: FUCK, THIS IS SERIOUS. YOU HAVE TO HELP ME. I LIVE CLOSE TO THE STEMCLIUSTER WHERE HE LIVES. YOU JUST HAVE TO SHOW ME THE BUILDING WHERE HE LIVES.  
[CE]: BecausE OF ThaT AssholE, MY ScuttlebuggY WaS WreckeD, I FelL IN A RiveR, GoT A ConcussioN, AnD I HaD TO WalK AlL ThE WaY TO A StemclsuteR. IN ShorT, I Don’t HavE TO DO ShiT.  
[CE]: NoW, FucK OfF AnD Don’T BotheR ME AgaiN.  


condemnedEradicator [CT]  ceased trolling carcinoGeneticis [CG] 

[CG]: SHIT! I NEED TO THINK OF SOMETHING.  
Lendrz huffed, annoyed. Helping that gold blooded asshole would be the last thing he did. Pushing his annoyed thoughts out of his mind, he turned his attention back to grubcakes. He quickly stuffed cut the rest of them into wedges and stuffed them into his mouth, this time barely even bothering to chew.

Just as he swallowed the last his grubcakes, another notification came from his computer.

_What is it this time?_

arsenicCatnip [AC]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

[AC]: :33 < *the mighty huntress stalked the highblood, struggling to control her anger.* :<<  
[CE]: WhaT? WhY ArE YoU MaD ME?  
[AC]: :33 < the huntress pounced on lendrz's back and knocking him to the floor. she pinned him under her, using her hands to hold his arms down.  
[AC]: :33 < how could mew not help karkitty find sollux?  
[CE]: GaH, NoT ThiS AgaiN. I ThoughT I JusT FinisheD TellinG ThaT HemonymouS FuckeR Wouldn’T HelP HiM.  
[AC]: :33 < beclaws they are our furends  
[CE]: NeitheR OF TheM ArE MY FriendS. CaptoR IS JusT A ThieF, AnD I Don’T EveN KnoW ThaT HemonymouS Troll’S NamE.  
[AC]: :33 < it's karkitty!  
[CE]: NO, I MeaN HiS ActuaL NamE.  
[AC]: :33 < fine. it's karkat vantas.  
[CE]: I’M JusT GoinG TO GO AheaD AnD AsK YoU ThE SamE QuestioN I AskeD VantaS. WhY ShoulD I CarE? IF YoU CaN AnsweR ME ThaT, I’lL HelP.   
[AC]: :33 < mew just have to!  
[CE]: NO, I Don’T TO.  
[AC]: :33 < that's just terrible! I don't think I can be furends with someone so heartless and awfur!  
[CE]: WhaT!? Don’T YoU ThinK That’S GoinG A LittlE ToO FaR?  
[AC]: :33 < come on! you have to help karkitty find sollux. please, you just have to.  
Lendrz growled under his breath. He could practically feel Nepeta looking at him with her wide watery eyes. While he hated the idea of doing anything even remotely beneficial for the gold blood, he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his friendship with Nepeta.

[CE]: BluhH! bluhH! FinE, I’lL HelP ThaT AssholE HelP ThE OtheR AssholE.  
[AC]: :33 < *the mighty huntress jumps around, overjoyed that the grouchy clown troll made the right choice*  
[AC]: :33 < *the huntress's eyes lit up when she realized something. if she went with the clown, she would have a chance to s33 karkkitty*  
[CE]: WaiT, You’rE CominG ToO? HoW WoulD YoU EveN GeT TherE?  
[AC]: :33 < don't worry, pounce can take me. i just n33d to convince him a little.  
[CE]: HoW ComE YoU Didn’T ConvincE HiM WheN I WaS TherE?  
[AC]: :33 < uh, i didn't want to tell you this, but pounce doesn't like you very much.  
[CE]: WhateveR, I Don’T CarE WhaT AN OversizeD FuR BalL ThinkS AbouT ME.  
[CE]: I’lL TrolL VantaS AnD TelL HiM To MeeT Us TherE.  
[AC]: :33 < *the huntress happily hugs the grouchy purple troll and says goodbye*  
[CE]: ByE NepetA.  
[AC]: :33 < *the huntress's ears purrked up. it was almost like she heard a voice, but she wasn't sure.*  
[CE]: No, I AM NoT DoinG ThaT.  
[AC]: :33 < *she kept looking around, but she still couldn't find anyone. she felt so alone she could just curl up and die.*  
[CE]: FucK IT, FinE!  
[CE]: *ThE SorcereR TolD ThE HuntresS HE WoulD NotifY VantaS ThaT HE WoulD HelP HiM FinD ThaT ShittY HackeR. HE AlsO BiD HeR FarewelL.*  
[AC]: *The huntress was overjoyed at the sudden appearance of her furend and told him goodbye too.*  


condemnedEradicator [CT]  ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] 

Lendrz scoffed, annoyed. It seemed like he would have to go back to stemcluster after all. He sent a message to Karkat.

condemnedEradicator [CE]  began trolling carcinoGeneticis [CG] 

[CE]: I Can’T BelievE YoU FuckinG TolD ON ME. WhaT ArE YoU, SomE KinD OF WriggleR OR SomethinG.  
[CG]: IT’S NOT LIKE YOU GAVE ME MUCH OF A FUCKING CHOICE.  
[CE]: WelL, IT LookS LikE YoU GoT WhaT YoU WanteD. I’lL SeE YoU AT ThE CLusteR. HoW ArE YoU EveN GoinG TO GeT TherE?  
[CG]: I LIVE IN THE SUBURBS CLOSE TO THE CLUSTER. I’LL JUST TAKE THE UNDERGROUND MOMENTUM TRANSFER STATION.  
[CE]: It’lL TakE ME A LittlE LongeR TO GeT TherE BY DrivinG. We’lL ProbablY HavE TO WaiT FoR ThE NexT NighT UnlesS YoU WanT TO RoasT IN ThE SunlighT.  


condemnedEradicator [CT]  ceased trolling carcinoGeneticis [CG] 

Lendrz leaned back in his chair. _Can’t believe I was roped into this. Captor probably just broke one his computer or something. This entire ordeal is just a big waste of time._

Yet another notification pulled his attention back to his computer.

arsenicCatnip [AC]  began trolling condemnedEradicator [CE] 

[AC]: :33 < i'm sorry lendrz, but my moirail is being a big idiot and doesn't want me to help. :<<  
[CE]: WhaT? YouR MoiraiL IS ZahhaK, A BluE BlooD, RighT?  
[AC]: :33 < yeah! how do you know him?  
[CE]: HE TrolleD ME NoT ToO LonG AgO. He’S A ReaL WeirdO, YoU KnoW.  
[AC]: :33 < yeah, he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but he's nice when you get to know him.  
[CE]: OkaY, JusT LeT ME TalK TO HiM. I’lL ConvincE HiM TO LeT YoU GO.  
Lendrz opened another log without closing the current one. He braced himself for the conversation with the blue-blooded creep that was to come.  


condemnedEradicator [CE]  began trolling centaursTesticle [CT] 

[CE]: ZahhaK, What’S ThiS I HeaR ABouT ForbiddinG NepetA FroM GoinG TO ThE ClusteR.  
[CT]: D --> Oh, highb100d, it's an honor to be talked to by one such as yourself  
[CT]: D --> As for the restriction I put on Nepeta, it is both for her safety and to prevent her from fraternizing with those below her caste  
[CT]: D --> I know Sollu% is a gold b100d and my skin crawls at the thought of the lowb100d that courses through Karkat's veins  
[CE]: Nepeta’S StronG EnougH TO HandlE HerselF. AlsO, I’M NoT SurE IF YoU NoticeD ThiS, BuT She’S NoT ExactlY VerY HigH WitH HeR OlivE BlooD. IN FacT, She’S JusT AbovE YelloW, Captor’S BlooD CastE.  
[CT]: D --> I don't know what you're implying While it is true she is not very high in the hemospectrum, her b100d is perfectly acceptable, especially when she has me to look out for her  
[CE]: I’M ImplyinG That You’rE A HypocritE, ZahhaK. I MeaN, Nepeta’S BarleY A MidblooD. LooK, SincE I’vE JusT RaN OuT OF PatiencE, HoW AbouT I JusT DO ThiS InsteaD.  
[CE]: I CommanD YoU TO LeT NepetA HelP US.  
[CT]: D --> Now I really need a  
[CT]: D --> towel  
[CT]: D --> As you wish, highb100d  
[CE]: FinallY! BeforE I GO, LeT ME GivE YoU A PiecE OF AdvicE. YoU MighT WanT TO ThinK AbouT YouR MoirallegianC WitH NepetA.  
[CT]: D --> There is nothing wrong with my moirallegianc with Nepeta  
[CE]: I’M JusT SayinG ThaT YoU Can’T JusT GO ON AbouT HoW It’S NoT PropeR FoR A HighblooD TO InteracT WitH A LowblooD, BuT TurN ArounD AnD DO ThaT ExacT ThinG. YoU ShoulD JusT MakE A ChoicE AnD SticK WitH IT.  
There was a pause on Equius’ side. Lendrz felt a little uncomfortable telling Equius such personal advice, especially since he wasn’t especially close to him or knew him particularly well, but he felt like this needed to be said. Finally, Equius answered.

[CT]: D --> You just may be right  
[CT]: D --> I will take what you said under consideration  


condemnedEradicator [CE]  ceased trolling centaursTesticle [CT] 

Lendrz leaned back in his chair, satisfied. He returned to his conversation with Nepeta.

_Hopefully, Zahhak will mellow out a bit. I mean, I’m a future subjugglator, and even I don’t have a stick that far up my waste chute. Well, now to tell Nepeta the good news._

[CE]: FortunatelY, FoR YoU, YoU HavE SucH A GraciouS AnD GenerouS FrienD SucH AS MyselF TO ConvincE ZahhaK TO ComE WitH US.  
[AC]: :33 < really? that's amazing!  
[AC]: :33 < wait, what about gamz33?  
[CE]: WhaT DO YoU MeaN?  
[CE]: :33 < he was really worried the last time you left. maybe you can take him too! your scuttlebuggy has two seats, right?  
[CE]: I MeaN, I GuesS I CaN. ThiS TriP Shouldn’T BE AS BaD AS ThE LasT OnE. SerkeT AnD PyropE PromiseD TheY Wouldn’T TrY AnythinG. SpeakinG OF WhicH, I’lL HavE TO TelL MakarA TO GeT ReadY, Then. ShoulD AlsO TalK TO SerkeT AnD PyropE. It’S FasteR TO GO ThrougH ThE ForesT TheN ArounD IT.  
[CE]: I’M AlsO JusT GoinG TO GO AheaD AnD LeavE ThiS ConversatioN BeforE I GeT RopeD IntO YouR RolE PlayinG ShenaniganS AgaiN.  


condemnedEradicator [CT]  ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] 

[AC]: :33 < awww, you're no fun.  
_You know, it’s beginning to become a real pain messaging everyone back and forth. I guess this is the downside of not living close to anyone of them, aside from Makara._

condemnedEradicator [CE]  began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

[CE]: = PyropE, I’M JusT HerE TO SaY ThaT I’M GoinG TO HeadinG ThrougH YouR ParT OF ThE ForesT. I’M NoT SurE IF YouR HivE HaS BeeN RebuilT YeT, ThougH. BeforE YoU CaN SaY AnythinG, NO, I WilL NoT GO FlarpinG WitH, SO Don’T BotheR AskinG.  
[GC]: H3Y! W41T UP  
condemnedEradicator [CE]  ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] 

[GC]: FUCK1NG 4SSHOL3  


condemnedEradicator [CE]  began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

[CE]: MakarA, WhaT ArE YoU DoinG RighT NoW?  
[TC]: NoT MuCh, LeNbRo. JuSt cHiLlIn' AnD SlAmMiN' dOwN FaYgOs.  
[CE]: I’M SurE YoU HearD VantaS ComplaininG AbouT Captor’S DisappearancE RecentlY.  
[TC]: YeAh. HeArD AbOuT ThAt. KaRbRo hAs bEeN GoInG OfF AbOuT ThAt fOr a wHiLe nOw.  
[CE]: WelL, VantaS TwisteD MY ArM BehinD MY BacK ON ThiS OnE, SO I HeadinG TO ThE ClusteR TO HelP HiM LooK FoR ThE GolD BastarD WitH NepetA. I ThinK IT MighT BE A GooD IdeA FoR YoU TO ComE AlonG ToO.  
[TC]: I GeT To mEeT KaRkAt, SoLlUx, AnD NePeTa iN PeRsOn? ThAt sOuNdS MiRaCuLoUs, LeNbRo.  
[CE]: OkaY, JusT BE ReadY BY ThE TimE I GeT TherE. I WanT TO SeE IF I CaN GeT TherE IN OnE NighT.  
[TC]: YoU GoT It, BrO.  


condemnedEradicator [CE]  ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

Finally done with that string of conversations to arrange the search, Lendrz stood from his chair and stretched his arms and legs. He still had to tell his lusus about his trip. He wasn’t sure his lusus would be as lenient this time around, given all the trouble he went through and the massive delay. With any luck, he would have some time to prepare a-!

Thud!

There was the unmistakable sound of his lusus knocking on his door. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. He walked to the front door, dreading the confrontation with every step. He twisted the doorknob and opened the door. As usual, he was knocked flat on his back as per usual. Lendrz couldn’t help but laugh as he wrestled with the inquisitive beak.

Finally, Lendrz managed the push off the beak and got to his feet, dusting himself off as he rose. He looked up to meet the old shellbeast’s old wizened eyes. Just like the last time, his lusus could tell something was wrong with only a glance. 

Lendrz pressed his index fingers together nervously while he avoiding looking into his eyes. Finally, he mustered the courage to speak up.

“I know I didn’t come back too long ago, but I have to head out again,” Lendrz stammered out.

The shellbeast made a disapproving noise from its throat and began shaking his massive head.

Lendrz quickly continued before the shellbeast could do anything else.

“Before you say anything else, I need to go out because one of my friends got really mad at me because I didn’t want to help one of her friends find another a different friend!” he managed to blurt out as fast as he could.

The shellbeast lowered his head and stared into Lendrz’s eyes with his own large ancient eyes. Lendrz couldn’t stop himself from squirming a little before his steadfast eyes. After what felt like forever, the shellbeast grunted and nodded his heavy head.

Lendrz clasped his hands together and said, “thanks, big guy. This time, I’m sure nothing too crazy going to happen this time around.”

The shellbeast playfully nudged him one last time before turning and heading back into the marsh, sinking into the murky water. It turned and gave him one last look before the water covered its head.

Lendrz turned back into his hive. He had some preparing to do before he picked up Gamzee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Makara, hurry up! I thought you said you would be ready by now!” he shouted as he honked his horn.

Lendrz leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. He had arrived at Gamzee’s hive and had been waiting for a while. He had packed some water a few snacks for the road, but it seemed like whatever preparations Gamzee was making was taking longer than expected. He had also taken the jar of mind honey that he...borrowed from Sollux all that time ago. You never know when it could come in handy.

After a few more minutes, the front door opened and Gamzee stepped out into the night. He held a large pie tin full of thick green slime. Gamzee waved to Lendrz when he saw him and approached.

“Hey, Lenbro,” Gamzee greeted ounce he was close.

“How many time do I have to tell you to not call me that,” Lendrz chided Gamzee passively. What took you so long in the first place, anyway?”

Gamzee climbed into the passenger seat of his scuttlebuggy.

“Sorry, about that, bro. Just finishing up this beauty,” he answered, holding up his sopor pie. “You want some?”

“I think I’ll pass on eating the slime we sleep in. Besides, I’m driving,” Lendrz said, eyeing the moons. “If we hurry, we might still make it to the cluster before the sun rises.”

“Sounds good, bro,” Gamzee said with a lazy smile.

“Did you tell your lusus you’ll be gone for a while?”

“Nah, bro. My lusus isn’t around much. Dunno when he’ll be back, so might as well just leave, ya know,” Gamzee answered, his dopey smile never leaving his face.

“Fine,” Lendrz answered, stepping on the accelerator and speeding off into the distance.

The pair had made good time on their travel. Gamzee seemed content to sit back and enjoy the passing scenery. They had entered the forest full of hanged scale mates where Lendrz first met the trolls that had started this whole chain of events. Soon, they drove past Terezi’s hive. From the look of it, the hived had yet to be rebuilt completely. Most of the walkways between the small buildings in the tree had yet to be entirely whole and the buildings themselves had to be supported by struts as they haven’t been firmly attached to the tree yet. The fire he started had badly scorched the tree branches, but it seemed Terezi had somehow managed to stop the fire before it destroyed the tree completely. A couple of construction drones buzzed around the tree, occasionally flying close to make adjustments or repairs to the structure on the tree. The drones were similar to the standard imperial drones, but they lacked the extra armor and weapons the others boasted and were painted yellow dark. Instead, they were armed with rivet guns, blow torches, and other construction tools. Apparently, contacting Terezi hadn’t been necessary, but it was better safe than sorry. It was a daymare making back to the stemcluster on foot, and Lendrz couldn’t imagine trying to do it with the sopor addled troll in tow.

“Hey, that’s Terezi motherfucking hive, right?” Gamzee asked, pointing at the hive in disrepair.

“Yup burned it down a few lunar cycles ago. The construction drones are almost finished, looks like. She shouldn’t be around here. Last I heard, she staying at Serket,” Lendrz answered.

Gamzee lazily nodded and went back to watching the scenery go by. Both settled into silence for the rest of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much time, so I'll be brief. I've been busy studying for finals and formating the troll logs, so this ended up being pushed back a while, and I still have to study because finals start in two weeks. This chapter might be a little shorter than usual because I wanted to get something out before finals and the html code is messing with my word count, so I can't really tell how long it actually is. I going to start something that not in canon, because I want to explore troll culture a little more before I move on. I also got grubcakes wrong. They're pancakes, not cupcakes. The next chapter will be s short spin-off. I'll give you a hint of what it is. It'll be called To Begin From Zero. I'll also be accepting short writing prompts about Lendrz if anybody has any. They have requirement it that they have to be about the freindsim trolls that have been introduced, because I want to write about them. I don't know if I'll release them on them on their own chapter or in the extras section. It depends on how many I get and how long they are.
> 
> As always, criticism is welcome.


	10. To Begin From Zero in Another World

Lendrz yawned as he walked to his front door to greet his lusus. The night had been uneventful. No messages from anybody any nothing to due. All in all, a little dull actually. It had been an ordinary day so far, nothing out of the ordinary. He had come back from his little eventful trip, and he was still decompressing. He did order a purple palmhusk recently. This time, it had arrived with no shenanigans. Palmhusk were basically smaller versions of husktops.

Lendrz stopped in front of his door. A strange shimmering clouded his vision. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them.

_Must have stayed up too late last day._

He opened the door, but a blinding light from the outdoors blinded him, forcing him to shut his eyes. It was far brighter than the moon could ever possibly be. It could only be the sun, but that didn’t make any sense. It was definitely during the night when he awoke.

“Fuck!” Lendrz shouted, raising his arms to shield his eyes from the light and stumbling backward, falling on his butt. He waited for the harsh sun to blind him and scorch his flesh. He waited and waited, but nothing came. He only felt a slight warmth and heard a clang and a small thump. Lendrz could hear soft murmuring all around him, too quiet for him to understand what they were saying. He cautiously lowered his arms and opened his eyes a crack. The light, while harsh and far too bright, wasn’t strong enough to burn him alive. He looked around, trying to get an idea of where he was.

A strange assortment of troll-shaped being surrounded him. There were people that closely resembled trolls, but they lacked horns, their claws were short and dull, their lips weren’t black, white scylla instead of yellow, and their skin weren’t a healthy gray. Their skin ranged from white to darker tones. However, compared to some of the other beings, they were completely mundane. Some looked like a combination of a troll and a purrbeast or barkbeast. Their entire bodies were covered fur, their hands looked like a combination of regular hands and paws, and a pair of large purrbeast poked out of their hair. A tail even poked through their pants or skirts. Nepeta would probably have a field day if she saw one of these. The barkbeast variant looked very similar except they had long droopy ears and tails. There were even amphibian ones, having scaly skin, strange feet, large thick tails, troll-like claws, scaly spines on their back, and lizard heads. Even their hair colors ranged from so many different colors from the standard black.

It was like Lendrz stepped through a portal into some kind of medieval fantasy world. He might have been excited to explore a world like this, but the experience was somewhat dampened by the lack of money and supplies.

Lendrz sat on the brick stone in the center of the group and in the center of their attention. His staff and a palmhusk were on the floor next to him. They continued murmuring amongst themselves. Now that Lendrz had his bearings, he could make out what some of them were saying.

“Did you see where that kid came from?”

“I’ve never seen a demihuman like him before.”

“Where do you think he came from?”

Panic and fear stabbed at Lendrz’s heart. Where ever he was, it sure wasn't Alternia. Lendrz picked himself up, grabbing his staff and palmhusk. Once he was up, he pushed himself through the crowd, ignoring the group’s protest and grunts. With his strength, forcing his way through wasn’t a problem, and the people he shoved were surprised by his strength, falling over themselves when they were pushed.

Soon enough, Lendrz pushed himself away from the group. Without the strange life forms blocking his view, he had a better look at his surroundings. He was in the middle of a small street with other strange natives walking to and fro their business. Tall and inviting buildings framed the streets. Unlike the buildings of Alternia’s stemclusters, these were pleasing and elegant, made of painted wood or brick. Lendrz quickly dashed down the streets, leaving the group behind. He ran down several twists and turns until he was sure he had lost anyone who would try to follow.

Lendrz leaned against one of the wooden building, catching his breath. Most of the people walking the streets ignored him, but a few of did look at him curiously, and none of them regarded him with the fear usually reserved for subjugators. This stemcluster was also much more crowded than the ones on Alternia. None of the people here didn’t have the wary look in their eyes everyone back home did. Lendrz began talking to himself, going over what happened.

“Am I another planet entirely? No, this can’t be real. This has got to be a dream. Yeah, a dream. I’m just going to wake up any second and be back home in my hive any second now.”

Lendrz stood up straight and closed his eyes with a confident smile on his face. “And, now!” he said with a smile still on his face.

Lo and behold, Lendrz was still standing on the brick streets. He had only succeeded in drawing a few curious glances from the people walking down the streets.

“Look at the strange man, mommy,” a passing wriggler, tugging at the skirt of what looked to be her ancestor.

“Don’t look at him. You don’t want to catch whatever he has,” her ancestor scolded as she gently urged her along.

Lendrz’s eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to retort, but he faltered. An adult and kid on the same planet? That just didn’t make any sense. Then again, this was another planet. The child and ancestor continued on their way. Still, the idea of an ancestor raising their descendant disturbed him. Lendrz signed, letting them go without saying anything.

“Might as well see if my palm husk works,” he said, turning on his palmhusk. The palmhusk powered on like normal. He flipped through his friends, trying to decide who to contact, but an icon in the corner cut his plans short.

 _Of course, I have no service. Ain’t that just the icing on the fucking cake_

Lendrz glumly tried to store his staff and palmhusk in his sylladex and strife specibus respectively, but both remind in hand. Both his items remained in hand. He tried to do anything with his sylladex, but nothing worked.

“Oh, come on. My sylladex won’t even work,” Lendrz bemoaned. “No money, no sylladex, no nothing. I’m so screwed. What am I going to do?” He placed his palmhusk into his pocket and had to settle with carrying his staff in his hands. “How barbaric,” he added with disdain.

Lendrz shoulders slumped down, and he continued down the road. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he wouldn't find out by doing anything. He ignored the strange assortment of people he passed by, not caring how many looks he got. They had called him a demihuman earlier. Demi meant part, but he had no idea what a human was. It seemed the people here thought he was one, albeit a strange one. At least he had a convenient name to call himself. With any luck, no one would think too hard about his true nature. Lendrz entered a larger street. It seemed this stretch was some kind of main road. Large unfamiliar beast ran down the street, pulling carts and carriages as they went. Some were large quadrupedal or bipedal or covered in scales or fur. Their riders also varied from scaly and fury as well. None of them had the white skin of lusus.

_Wonder if the scaly and furry ones have any qualms with riding the ones that are covered in the same skin._

A sudden scream caught his attention. Lendz turned to see a small boy collapsed in the middle of the street. He must have tripped and fallen. A massive four-legged lizard pulling a chariot barreled towards the child. The rider frantically tugged at the reins, trying to stop the lizard from crushing the kid, but it was moving too fast to stop and veering to the side would send the lizard into the crowd on either side of the street. The kid only had seconds before the lizard reached him. The crowd around him were frozen, watching in horror as the lizard drew closer and closer with every passing second. 

Lendrz found himself frozen as well. His legs were locked in place. He couldn’t move an inch, even if he wanted to. He wanted to look away from the carnage that was to be, but he couldn’t turn away no matter how hard he tried.

Just as the lizard was moments away from crushing the boy, a person clad in metal armor dove to the child, grabbing and holding the boy close to his chest, and rolled out of the lizard’s path. The lizard stampede through the street where the kid was seconds ago.

The crowd cheered and clapped when the knight stood up and helped the boy as he did. Lendrz let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Lendrz turned away from the scene, ignoring the ecstatic crowd around him. The child’s well being was none of his concern, nor did it affect him in any way. He had more important things to do than sticking around here. Like finding out where he was and what to do now.

The highblood walked by a series of small stands, selling all kinds of goods. Some familiar and some not. Unfortunately, Lendrz found that he couldn’t read the strange symbols on the signs, but he could understand the language, luckily. He stopped by one particular one selling bright red fist-sized fruits that looked suspiciously like regular apples from back home. Lendrz glanced at the sign, trying to read whatever it said. However, the symbols on the wooden sign looked nothing like the language back on Alternia.

The man vending the stall was an older man, lightly tanned, tall and muscular, built like a warrior. He even might have been one, judging from two claw mark like scars on his face. One going from the middle of his forehead all the way down the left of his broad nose to his bottom lip. The shorter one went from above his left eye to just below, but sparing the eye itself from any damage. His green hair was tucked into black bandana almost like a beanie. A matching three-pronged beard goatee his strong chin. A mistletoe necklace was wrapped around his neck. He wore a small vest that barely covered anything, sturdy slacks, and cloth bracers. He bit a thin green stalk of a plant between his teeth.

“These appas got your attention, kid? How about buying a few?” he asked with a gruff voice taking an apple from his stall and presenting it to Lendrz.

“Sorry, but I don't have any money on me,”Lendrz stated with a flat expression on his face.

Just like that, his attitude did a one-eighty. “Then what are you doing crowding my stall if you don’t have any money?” he practically shouted.

Lendrz looked from left to right. There were people milling about, but none of them seemed interested in the appa vender. 

“Yeah, I can clearly see that I’m interrupting your oh so busy stall,” Lendrz shot back sarcastically.

That only got the vender angrier. His muscular arm shot out and grabbed him by the collar. 

“Who do you think you are, punk!” he shouted, almost lifting him off his feet. “I got a business to run! If you don’t have any money, then get lost!”

Lendrz gasped when he was lifted up. His toes were barely on the floor. “Oh, fuck! You got it, sir! I won’t bother you again unless I want to buy an appa,” Lendrz stammered as fast as he could.

“Them scram!”

The vendor shoved Lendrz away. Lendrz wasted no time getting away from the vendor in a half crawl half stumble. Lendrz kept on running until he rounded the corner and was out the sight of the green haired vender before slowing down to catch his breath and calm his beating heart.

 _That guy must be part shellbeast or something. He reminds me way too much of my lusus,_ he thought, holding a hand to his heart. Lendrz shook his head and focused on putting what he experienced with the vendor behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With his hands tucked into his pockets, Lendrz had let his mind wander and his legs carry him wherever they wished. His first issue was finding shelter for the night, food, and water. He doubted his purple blood would have much leeway on this planet and he wanted to avoid attention. It was probably for the best that no one knows he was an alien. 

That being said, he couldn’t help but admire his surroundings. Compared to the grim and drab of his home, this place was bright and lively. He passed by bright green gardens and parks. Ornate marble fountains shot sprayed water in elegant displays of craftsmanship. There were canals of water running through some parts of the city. Surprisingly, the sun’s warmth began to feel comforting, even if Lendrz still thought it was too bright. For a moment, Lendrz was lost in his own thoughts.

Lendrz paused and looked at his surroundings. He had walked down some stairs into a dark alley without realizing it. The painted brick walls of the alley were faded and stained. At some spots, the paint was stripped away completely. The chatter of the world around was muted by dark cold walls.

“Well, look at what we have here,” a taunting voice called out to him.

A trio of thugs walked down the alleyway to him. The biggest one was had light brown skin, a large fat belly, strong features, puffy lips, but muscular arms. An extremely thin mustache and goatee covered his top lip and bottom of his chin. He wore ragged pale yellow clothes with an equally ragged green vest and wooden amulet on a leather cord. His head was covered in a white cloth and two pairs of braided brown hair curled upwards on each side. 

The second one was tall, thin, pale, and looked like he just escaped from a prison. He wore especially ragged grey short and pants. Metal shackles were around his arms wrist and ankles. A leather collar was wrapped around his neck with a severed chain still attached. His messy hair was baby blue with light pink streaks.

The last one was the size of a child. A light red cloak covered his entire body. He had large eyes and his brown hair was cut in a bowl cut.

Blue hair spoke out as they approached with the same voice that first beckoned to him.

“Drop whatever you have if you want to walk out of here if you know what’s good for you.”

After Lendrz finished eying up the thugs, the corners of his lips began twitching uncontrollably. Finally, he couldn’t help himself anymore. Lendrz doubled over, laughing so hard he was gasping and wheezing.

On Alternia, not even the bravest, or dumbest, of trolls would dare try to rob a highblood, especially a purple blood.

The thugs seemed taken back by his unexpected reaction, but it didn't take long for them to swing back into rage.

“What the fuck’s wrong with you!?” the fat one shouted. “Don’t you know you’re being mugged!?”

“I’m sorry, but I gotta know. Are you being serious?” Lendrz managed to gasp out between laughs.

“This is serious, asshole!” the short one shouted.

“Okay, fine. Let’s just get this over with,” Lendrz said, getting over his laughing fit and righting himself.

“You know, if you just dropped everything like we asked, we would have just let you go. But, now you pissed us off, and we’re going to have to work off some of this stress by beating you into the ground,” the fat one said, pounding his fist together.

The trio stepped closer and closer, raising their fist and forming a wall with their bodies. Lendrz raised his staff, ready to swing it at whoever stepped within range.

“Out of the way!”

A young girl who couldn’t be older than fourteen or fifteen dashed down the alley. She wore jeggings and a small tube top. A brown small fur-lined vest was worn over her top and matching gloves covered her hands. The left leg was cut off at the thigh and a red ribbon at the ankle. Her blonde short hair was kept from her eyes with a large black bow. A large curved dagger hung from the small of her back with a scabbard. A long red scarf wrapped around her neck, the ends reaching almost to the floor. The ends ended in an odd fire design. Lendrz almost did a double take when he saw her eyes. She wasn’t an adult, but her eyes were already colored a deep red. He looked back at the thugs, but their eyes were all black. He hadn’t been paying attention to the eye color of anybody else.

The girl run slowed to a walk before stopping entirely

“Hey, what’s going on here?” she asked.

“Me and my friends were just about teach this smart mouth a lesson,” the skinny one answered, practically daring her to do something about it.

“And, I was right about to beat the crap out of these assholes,” Lendrz retorted.

“I don't care who’s beating who. I don’t have time for this! Move aside!”

Both Lendrz and the thugs moved aside to let the girl through. She continued her dash through the alley. As she passed Lendrz, she said, “live strong!”

When she reached the end of the alley, she elegantly leaped to and from the walls of the alley and disappeared over the roofs of the buildings. Lendrz couldn’t help but be impressed by her agility.

“Now where were we?” the short one asked, the group turning back to Lendrz.

“We just reached the point where I was going to beat all three of you into a bloody pulp,” Lendrz said clenching his hand into a fist.

“You just don’t know when to shut your mouth, do you,” the fat one said. Once again, the thugs began to approach.

“Don’t move,” a voice calmly said from the other end of the alley.

“What is it this time!?” the fat one shouted, annoyed by the constant interruptions.

Another girl was standing on the other side of the alley. This one was dressed in a white dress with purple trim and long white boots topped with purple lace, leaving some of her skin between the dress and boots bare. She wore a strange coat over her dress. It looked almost like a loose corset but went off in a large pair of coattails. The bell sleeves of her dress left her shoulders bare and had a strip of ridiculously oversized fabric, almost reaching the floor. They ended in purple and a golden eagle insignia was on the purple. A light green triangular jewel was set upon a separate white and purple collar. The girl herself was gentle looking and beautiful and had snow white skin. Her long beautiful and flowing went almost to her knees. Her hair was braided in a way that it almost looked like a hair band. A white rose was tied to her hair with a bow of purple lace. Judging by her violet eyes with blue irises and the quality of her clothes, she outranked even him.

“Stop whatever you’re doing and graciously return what you stole,” she demanded.

“What we stole?” the fat guy asked.

“You can keep whatever you have, but what you stole from me is most precious,” she continued, ignoring his question.

“What? You mean you’re not here to save this guy?”

The girl looked past the thugs and focused on Lendrz. “I’ve never seen anybody dressed like him. I don’t have any connections with him,” she flatly stated.

“Then you have no business with us! If anyone stole from you, it was probably a blonde haired brat that ran past here. She was heading over there before she jumped onto the roofs,” the fat one said, pointing to where the blond haired girl disappeared.

“Yeah, that way! She ran that way!” the smallest one shouted.

The girl raised a finger to her chin and the other one to her waist. “Hmm, they don’t seem to be lying. I have to catch her,” she said. She ran down the alley and up the stairs, past the group.

“Finally, now let’s get back to business.” 

“However, I just can’t overlook what’s happening here on here,” the girl said, twisting one eighty degrees and raising a hand, palm facing outward and fingers spread apart.

Frost blue light began to swirl and gather in the palm of her hand. The light blue light began to grow stronger and condensed into three round chunks of ice. The ice grew until they reached the size of a large ball. The ice shot out from the light with great velocity one by one. A ball of ice struck the biggest thug in the gut, sending him flying a few feet with a shout of surprise before he landed to the ground with a heavy thud. The other two soon joined him on the ground when they were struck with ice as well. The chunks of ice stayed on the ground for a few more moments before they flashed with a blue light and disappeared without a trace.

Lendrz looked at the silver-haired girl, working hard to keep his awe from showing on his face.

_I’ve never seen a cryokinetic before! It looks like the people of this world can be psionic as well._

Blue hair unsheathed a pair of long daggers hidden behind his back. “Mess with us, will you?” he growled as he rose. The fat one unsteadily stood up as well. The short one seemed to have been knocked unconscious.

‘“I don't care if you can use magic! I’ll kill you!” blue hair shouted. The threat was somewhat lackluster, as blue hair was rubbing his head and the fat one had to use the wall to support himself on his shaky feet and had his spare hand on his undoubtedly bruised stomach.

“You think you can win when it’s two against one!? Huh!?” he shouted, pointing at the girl.

_Did that guy just say magic? That can’t be possible... Then again, this is another world entirely._

The girl confidently rolled her hip to the side and placed her hand on it, completely unfazed by his threat. “You’re right. Two against one does seem a little unfair.”

“Two against two should make it fair, then,” a cutesy male voice called from the girl, but her mouth didn’t move. The girl raised a hand, palm facing upwards. In a flash of light, a small purrbeast like animal appeared on her palm, standing on its hind paws like a troll. It stood on its hind legs like a troll. It was covered in grey silky fur with white on the tips of his limbs, tail, and mouth. A large patch of shaggy white fur covered its neck and chest. It also had patches of white fur above its eyes, resembling eyebrows. One of its ears was curled forward. The same ear had a simple golden earring.

The creature mimicked the girl’s confident pose and winked an aqua eye.

The thugs took a step back, suddenly afraid of the cute purrbeast. “No way! You’re a user of the spirit arts!?

“Correct. Now back off and I won’t come after you. Decide quick. I’m in a hurry.,” the girl confidently stated.

Blue hair pointed an accusing finger at the girl. “You bitch! Next time I see you, I won’t go so easy on you!” he shouted.

The purrbeast waved off his threat nonchalantly. “Do anything to her, and I’ll haunt you and your kin forever,” he threatened in his cutesy voice. He then sat down on the palm of the girl’s hand. “Not that you’ll have any kin if I do. Actually, you probably won’t have any kin even if I don’t haunt you,” he added snidely.

Blue hair looked like he was about to say something, but he lost his nerve. He turned tail and bolted back down the alley, the fat thug not far behind. For a moment, it looked like they were going to abandon the small thug, but blue hair seemed to suddenly remember him. He quickly turned and grabbed shorty and tucking him under his arm like some kind of baggage before disappearing down the alley with the fat thug.

Before Lendrz could say anything to the girl, she turned to him with a stern expression on her face. “Don’t move,” she said, looking down into his eyes intently from the top of the small set of stairs.

The girl continued to look unflinchingly into his black eyes. Lendrz tsked and stared back into her eyes defiantly.

“See? You look defensive because you have a guilty conscience.” She began walking down the stairs to stand beside Lendrz and said, “Looks like my judgment was right.”

The purrbeast was now actually flying beside the girl’s shoulder. “Are you sure about that? I think we would have recognized him if he was the one who stole from you. Plus, I don’t sense any kind of malice from him,” he said.

“You be quiet, pack,” the girls, shooting a look to the floating purrbeast.

She turned back to Lendrz and leaned forward.”You know who stole my insignia, don’t you?” she asked accusingly.

Lendrz crossed his arms, trying to once again hide his amazement at seeing the flying purrbeast. “I’ve never seen your stupid insignia before in my life. Those thugs back there were probably right about the blonde haired girl. She was the one who probably stole it. They were also right about telling where she went.”

The girl continued to look into his eyes. The purrbeast floated beside her head with his arms crossed sitting on thin air with his legs crossed as well, looking into Lendrz’s eyes.

The girl nodded and stepped back. “Thank you for answering my questions. I helped you with those men and you helped me with information. We’re even, so there’s no need to thank me,” she said.

_Hmm, it seems that she wants things to be “even” between us, so I don’t feel bad or something. She far too nice. In Alternia, she wouldn’t last a day. I wonder if everyone in this world is as naive as her._

“Good, because I wasn’t going to thank you at all. I didn’t even need your help in the first place,” Lendrz retorted. He raised a fist and slammed it into one of the alley’s walls. His fist slammed into the stone brick, powdered red brick flow from the wall. The sound of stone crunching echoed through the Alley’s silence. Lendrz withdrew his fist from the newly made hole in the wall.

The girl was taken back by his blunt response, but Lendrz continued to before she could say anything. “In the time it took you to stop here and deal with those lowlifes, the blond girl made a lot of distance between you and her. In fact, you probably lost her completely by now. You know, if you know what’s good for you, you should stop worrying about other and start worrying about yourself. You never get far in your life if you waste it helping others.”

What he said must have hit a nerve, because the girl placed her hands on her sides and stared at him crossly. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t accept that. I can’t just someone who could be in danger get hurt, even if they don’t need help. If you didn’t need my help, someone still could have gotten hurt,” she said, stamping her foot.

Lendrz shrugged and said, “Whatever. That was just some advice. It’s your life. Just don’t say nobody warned you if you end up wasting it.”

The purrbeast flew to Lendrz and floated close to his face. “You know, you should really lighten’ up a little. Even I have to admit she can be a little too nice for her own good, but I’d rather have that then some stick in the mud like you,” he said sternly.

Lendrz raised an eyebrow. “What kind of animal even are you?” 

The purrbeast giggled at his question. “What? Never heard of a spirit before? Well, I’m the greatest and cutest spirit in the world, Pack,” he said, puffing his furry chest and standing proudly on thin air.

He looked over at the girl. “You use magic earlier, right. As in, you’re a mage or something.

Both Pack and the girl nodded.

_This might be kind of a stretch, but It’s worth a shot._

“Since you two are magic kind people, do you have any idea where to learn magic? I’m looking to find my start in the mystic arts.”

The girl crossed her arm and said, “I thought you said I should be more selfish and help myself instead of others,” she said smugly.

Lendrz opened his mouth to retort, but closed it and thought for a moment. ‘You know what? You got me there. Tell you what, I’ll help you find your insignia, and you help me learn magic in some way. A favor in exchange for a favor. Searching will be easier with another pair of eyes. Plus, I’m the only one here that got a good look at the girl,” he said.

“Thank you for the offer, but I think I can handle this by myself.”

“Hey, wait up,” Pack interrupted. “Another set of ideas might not be a terrible idea. Plus, he could serve as a meat shield if the worst comes to worst,” he cheerfully stated.

“Well, thanks for that one, Pack,” Lendrz said.

“Fine,” the girl conceded.

“Well we’re not going to find the girls just waiting around, are we? Let’s get moving.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pair searched the town for hours. They asked the citizens if they had seen anything, but none had. They must have looked in every nook and cranny of wherever they searched, but the found nothing.

After a while, they decided to take a break. They stopped to rest at a small terrace, overlooking the city. The girl stood by the stairs, leaning over the rails and pack on her shoulder. Lendrz leaned against the railing, admiring the view as well. He had assumed the city was large, but orange tiled roofs stretched on for as far as the eye could see. An occasional bunch of green broke the pattern.

“We’re never going to find the girl here. This place is just way too big, and she could be anywhere. This is impossible,” Lendrz bemoaned to the girl.

“Well, we are in the capital of Lugnica. Didn’t you know that? There are signs almost everywhere” she answered.

Lendrz looked away, purple creeping up on his cheeks. “Uh, actually, I can’t read, and I'm kinda lost. In fact, I have no idea how I even got here. I don’t even have any money.”

The girl turned to him and raised a hand to her mouth in shock. “You don’t know how to read, don’t have any idea how you got here, and have no money. You may be in a worse position than I’m in.”

Pack floated up beside Lendrz. “Where do you even come from anyway? I've never seen a demihuman like you before,” he inquired.

Lendrz thought for a moment before answering. He would have to be careful with how he answered, lest he reveal his true nature. “Not much to say, really,” he said slowly. “I lived by myself with only my… caretaker. I’ve never seen many other of my kind, aside from my neighbor. Even then, we weren't particularly close. As for why I’m here, well, one thing led to another, and I wound up here.”

Pack nodded and said, “I see. What about punching a hole in the wall earlier? Is that some kind of divine protection? You don’t look strong enough to do it with muscle alone.”

The girl stepped closer to Lendrz and took his grey hand in his own. She stared intently at his hand and carefully turned his hand around, feeling his palm, his fingers, and everything else. Her pale hand felt soft and fragile in stark contrast to his gray skin. Purple dusted Lendrz’s cheeks, and he looked away.

“Your skin is thick and tough, almost like leather, but you don’t have any calluses or scars. I can tell you never worked in the fields or other hard labor. You must come from a respectable family,” she said before letting go of his hand.

“I may not know what a divine protection is, but I can tell you my strength isn’t it. It’s purely physical, no magic involved,” Lendrz answered, brushing off what just happened. “What is a divine protection?”

Pack crossed his arms and said, “A divine protection is a gift from the gods bestowed upon mortals. Some races or species are more likely to have certain kinds of blessings or completely ensure, like earth dragons. Every single one has the divine protection from wind evasion. The chances of having a blessing are one in one hundred, but those are useless ones. A good one is one in one thousand, rare ones are one in ten thousand, really useful ones are one in one hundred thousand, unique ones are one in one million, and having more than one is one in ten million.”

Lendrz whistled. “Those are some odds. Well, now that you know a little more about me, how about telling me more about you two. I don’t even know your name,” he said, gesturing to the silver-haired girl, who had been listening quietly.

The girl seemed taken back by his question and hesitated before answering. “You already know Pack, my contracted spirit. We’re just here visiting… and my name is Satella… no surname or title,” she answered finally.

Pack’s eyes widened and jaw dropped. His tail shot straight up and a surprised sound escaped his throat.

“Satella, huh. Weird name,” was the only response Lendrz gave.

Satella’s eyes widened from his casual response. Pack exhaled and floated beside her. He whispered something to her before disappearing into her silver hair.

“Well, we’re not going to find the girl that stole your insignia by just standing around here, are we? Let’s get a move on!” Lendrz said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They continued their search for the girl, but, again, they found nothing. 

“Hey, Lendrz, do you think that kid looks lost,” Satella asked, pointing to a small green haired child in a pink dress, looking left and right frantically.

Lendrz looked where she was pointing. “Yeah, looks like it. I can tell from the look on your face you’re just going to disregard my advice from earlier,” he said. Meanwhile, large tears welled up in the girl’s eyes and dripped down her face.

“I just can't leave a little girl crying in the street like that, can I? If you want, you can just keep going on your own,” she said stubbornly.

“Your kidding? I already spent most of the day with you. Might as well go the full mile,” he answered.

The pair approached the girl. When she saw Satella approach, her eyes lit up, but they fell the moment she saw it wasn’t her caretaker. Satella kneeled down in front of the girl and said, “I’m sorry I’m not your mother. Are you lost? Do you know where your mom and dad are?”

Her questions only made the situation worse. Bigger tears grew in her eyes, she began outright balling. “I’m sorry. I just want to help,” she said, trying to reconcile the crying the girl, but her words had no effect.

Lendrz stood off to the side and watched as the girl only continued to cry and cry. If he wanted to resume their search, he would have to do something. But what? If anything, he would probably only make things worse. After thinking for a moment, an idea came to mind, and he readied his staff.

“Hey, kid, over here,” he called to the child. The little girls looked over to him, but he raised his staff before she could react. He channeled energy into it and a purple flame sprouted from it. He waved his staff around, leaving a lingering gentle glow wherever it went. The child clapped her hands together and hopped in glee. After spending a few more minutes tracing patterns into the air, the tears were gone from her eyes and a smile was on her face. Just in time, too. Lendrz felt the start of a migraine coming on. Leaving lingering flame in thin air was quite strenuous on his mind.

“Now, take her hand, so we can find your… mom and dad,” Lendrz said as the girl wiped the last of her tears from her eyes with her sleeves.

The little girl took Satella’s hand, and she extended a hand to Lendrz. “What do you want from me?” Lendrz asked.

“She wants you to take her hand, Lendrz,” Satella said, suppressing a giggle with her free hand.

“Fine. If it gets us finished faster,” Lendrz grumbled, taking the much smaller hand into his own. The two continued walking down the busy street with the girl between them.

“I thought you didn’t know magic,” Satella said as they walked. The girl ignored their conversation, content with skipping along with them.

“That wasn’t magic. It’s kind of like a physical trait that the demihumans like me can have, no magic involved,” Lendrz answered, already having an answer ready for when she asked.

“Mommy!” the girl shouted and pulled herself away from their hands. She ran to a brown-haired woman who dropped to her knees and hugged the girl tightly.

Lendrz turned away. “We already wasted enough time with this. Let’s get moving,” he said, already walking away. 

Satella smiled to herself before following Lendrz.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pair were taking another break from their search. They were seated next to each other on the small side walls of a stone bridge built over a large rectangular body of water. Fountains sprouting out from the water, spraying water upwards. Benches, tables, and vendors were littered around the edges of the body of water.

_I still can’t get over how different this place is. Something like this would never have been built for the public._

“How long have we been searching? A few hours must have passed at least,” Lendrz complained.

Satella stayed silent for a moment. “Why are you helping me? Don’t tell me it’s to learn magic. In the time it’s taking us to search, you could have probably found a teacher willing to teach you if you have any potential.”

Lendrz pursed his lips. Why was he helping her? It’s true; the thought of leaving on his own had come across his mind a few times. She wasn’t one of his friends and he owed her nothing. Maybe because she was the first person to show him unconditional kindness. Maybe it was because she was so naive that he wanted to help her out...

Lendrz scoffed and looked away. “At this point, it’s not even about learning magic or even helping you! I just won't give that little punk that stole your insignia a piece of my mind for wasting so much of my time!... Plus, I guess I could be stuck with worse company,” he added.

Satella smiled at his response, but it fell as soon as it came. “I don’t think I can go like this,” she said. “I have to tell you...I’m half elf,” she finished ashamed, pulling back her silver hair to reveal a pair of pointed ears.

Lendrz sated at her curiously. _Apparently, being a half-elf was something to be ashamed of. As a subjugglator, this is the part where I scorn her or something...Eh, screw it. She’s nice enough, and I like her well enough._

“So? Half-elf, full elf, or no elf, you seem like nice enough person. A little to nice if you ask me, but I digress. You’re going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me. I’m sorry, but it looks like we’re going to be stuck with each other for awhile,” Lendrz finished with a cheeky smile.

Satella looked taken back by his response. She hopped off the wall and turned her back to him and squatted down, placing her hands on top of her head.

Pack flew from Satella’s silver hair. The fluffy spirit twirled through the air before dashing to Lendrz’s face with a squishy paw reared back. He shouted as he punched Lendrz’ cheek.

Lendrz started blankly at the spirit. “...What the fuck are you doing?” he asked.

Pack curled up in a ball, trembling uncontrollably with fur standing one end. “I’m sorry. I just can't stand this unbearable tingle I feel. I’m happy, not mad,” he gasped out.

“You’re such a dunderhead,” Satella said, only turning her head.

“Did you seriously call me a dunderhead? Is that the best insult you have?

“B-be quiet! We have searching to do!” she said, finally standing up.

Wait, before we go, we got to think of a plan. We’ve been going around in circles for hours. Where was your insignia stolen?” Lendrz asked.

“I still remember where it was stolen. Just follow me,” Satella answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It was just around here,” Satella said as they turned into a familiar street. Once again, Lendrz found himself in a street full of trading stalls. The same street with the green haired man from earlier.

“Let’s began asking questions,” she continued, making a beeline to a certain green haired man.

Lendrz kept a fair distance away and let Satella do the talking. “Excuse me, but have you seen a blond haired girl by any chance? She wearing a long red scarf as well.”

The vendor looked down at Satella before he spotted Lendrz standing behind her. “You're with that broke kid there, right? Just when I thought I had a customer,” he answered, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “If you two are done wasting my time, beat it. You're scaring away my customers. Get lost, you broke losers!” he finished, waving them away.

“Papa!”

All three of them turned to see the green haired girl they helped earlier and her mother. The mother bowed and said, “Thank you for helping me find my daughter. You left so fast, I didn’t get chance to thank you. I see you have met my husband, too.”

“This is your husband,” Satella asked, gesturing to the vendor. The vender’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. The stalk from between his lips fell to the floor. His daughter ran to him and wrapped her hands around him, but she only reached halfway.

“You know these kids?” he asked his wife.

“Yes, we got separated and these nice people helped us find each other,” she answered.

He gently rubbed his daughter's hair. ‘“Now then, what’s going on here?” the wife asked her husband.

He avoided his wife’s gaze. “Uh, nothing. I was just helping these two on their way.

She smiled. “Good. Come on, we still have some errands to finish,” she said, beckoning to her daughter. The daughter gave her father one last squeeze before going to her mother. They waved to the rest of the group before leaving.

The vendor looked back at Lendrz and Satella with a softer look. “Okay, since you helped my wife and daughter, I guess you two broke kids aren’t so bad. The name’s Kadomon Risch. What do you two want again?”

Satella bowed and said, “Thank you so much. We’re looking for a blond-haired thief wearing a long red scarf. She stole something important to me.”

Kadomon rubbed his chin in thought. “Hmm, I’ve never seen anybody like that personally, but I have heard rumors of a pickpocket matching that description around here. If I were you, I’d check the poor district. That’s the most likely place where you’ll a thief. Here, let me write down some directions.” He fished some paper and a pencil from his stand and quickly jotted down some instructions before handing the paper to Satella.

Satella took the paper. “Thank you. Come on, Lendrz,” she said, already briskly walking away. Lendrz followed closely behind.

“Be careful, you two! That district can be dangerous!” Kadomon called.

As they walked, Satella’s lips were turned into a smug smile. “What are you so happy about? We still have an entire district to search for your insignia,” Lendrz said.

“Because we helped that little girl, Kadomon helped us now. Being nice does have its advantages,” she answered.

“We just got lucky this time. Seriously, what are the chances of that? Besides, we still have to find the thief, so we’re not done yet.” The pair continued the rest of the way in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to its name, the poor district was a wreck. They were no roads or streets, just dust. The buildings were made of old rotting wood. There were a few scattered remains of brick buildings, but the passing of time had reduced them to unrecognizable crumbling wrecks The people were dressed in rags. These people reminded him of the trolls from the slums of Alternia. They stayed out of sight and watched them from around corners and windows. It was almost night and the district was bathed in a faint orange light.

The duo was joined by Pack, who was seated on Satella’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said, catching the pair’s attention. “I’m out of time”

“What do you mean out of time?” Lendrz asked.

“Well, I may be all cute and fluffy, but I am a spirit, and it takes a lot of mana to manifest in the physical world. I have to rest in the crystal during the night if I want to be ready for the morning. Usually, I can go from nine to five without straining myself,” he said, struggling to keep his head up.

“Don’t worry, Pack. You did great,” Satella said, taking the jewel from neck and placing it in her palm. Pack flew from her shoulder to the jewel and sat on her palms.

“Be careful,” Pack warned before being enveloped in a bright green light. The light then shattered into dozens of small green particles with a chime. The particles flew in every direction before flying to the jewel and disappearing into it. Satella fastened the jewel back on her neck.

“Well, that was some light show. Well, what do we do now? We’re down a member and we haven’t gotten any closer to finding the thief,” Lendrz said.

“Don’t worry. Pack may be resting, but I can call upon other minor spirits.”

“What’s a minor spirit?” asked Lendrz.

“Minor spirits are spirits that haven’t become full-fledged spirits like pack yet. They don’t have a personality like Pack and they can’t take physical form by themselves. Just give me a little time,” Satella answered.

Satella stepped back and closed her eyes. She kept her eyes closed and her eyes by her side, She began whispering too softly for Lendrz to hear. A bright blue light began emanating from her. Small blue particles began flickering into existence around her. They pulsed gently as they drifted around Satella. Lendrz stared in awe at the beautiful lights. She continued her soft chanting for a few minutes before they faded and disappear entirely.

Satella turned to Lendrz and said, ‘I know where the thief is.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night had fallen a while ago, casting the rundown district in shadows. Satella had some difficulty walking on the uneven road at night, but Lendrz’s eyes were more suited for the night anyway, so he had no trouble.

They had arrived at a large old brick building. The dirty white paint was chipping away and some parts had the brick laying bare. All the windows were barred with iron bars, almost like a prison. It looked like it might have been a shop of some kind once, but now it was a thief's den.

“It doesn’t look like anybody’s there. Maybe they’re sleeping or something. Do you want to wait until morning to try again or what?” asked Lendrz.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark,” Satella lightly teased.

Lendrz rolled his eyes and said, “As if. I can see just fine in the dark.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind going in first, would you?”

Lendrz shrugged. “Sure. I’ll give a shout if there’s any trouble.”

Lendrz approached the decrepit building’s aged door. The double doors had no lock; only a pair of knockers. The doors opened with a ghastly creak. As expected, the interior was pitch black, but he could still see just fine. A large hole in the roof let some silver moonlight into the building. There was a counter across from him and tables and chairs scattered about. The building had a random assortment of goods of various quality. Shelves were lined with bottles of all shapes and colors. Crates were stacked all over, undoubtedly filled with more stolen goods. Swords, shields and other weapons were hung on the wall. There was even an entire sure of plate armor standing in the corner.

He began walking around the building, checking for any signs of anyone. There was a strange scent in the air along with an eerie stillness. As Lendrz walked past the counter, he heard a light splash when he stepped down. He looked down to see a thick viscous red fluid pooled around his feet. Lendrz looked down the counter and almost dropped his staff at the sight.

There, sitting against the wall was a large bulky man. He was slumped forward and a large club lay at his feet. His dark skin was unnaturally pale and ashy. His eyes were wide open, but they were vacant and sightless. His innards were strewn on his lap in a gorry pile from a large gaping slash on his stomach. The cut was a violent one, making it look like an explosion of blood covered his entire bulky chest up to his face. His mouth was ajar, thick coagulated blood dripped from it to the floor.

Lendrz growled and reinforced his grip on his staff. The man wasn't just killed. He was slaughtered, like an animal, and the person who did it could still be here.

“Oh my, did you find him? Now I have no choice but to dispose of you~,” a cold feminine voice sang from behind Lendrz.

Before Lendrz could react, a powerful shove made him stumble forward, followed by a stabbing pain in his back. He quickly spun around, but his assailant had disappeared before he could even see her.

“I’m impressed. I ran you through with my knife and you’re still standing. And the purple blood~ I’ve never seen anything like it. I bet your guts are the same beautiful shade of purple,” the same voice called.

Lendrz looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the source, but the voice seemed to be coming from all around him. He glanced down and saw that purple blood staining his stomach. She wasn’t lying. She had stabbed him from his back to his stomach. He gritted his teeth and fought back the pain with his growing rage. He raised his staff and began to channel energy, but a familiar voice interrupted his concentration.

“Lendrz, are you okay? I heard some voices. I’m coming in,” the familiar voice of Satella called to him from just behind the door.

Lendrz’s eyes widened as he turned to the doors. He had to warn her about the danger. “Wa-”

Before the first word could even leave his mouth, a dark figure dashed in front of him. Lendrz barley saw the glint of her knife before he felt a horrible pain in his neck. His words were replaced by a wet gurgling as his assailant slit his throat

Lendrz dropped his staff and collapsed to his knees. He pressed both his hands to neck as he tried to staunch the flow of purple. The pain in his neck dwarfed the stab wound, but the pain lessens with every drop that spilled to the floor. Finally, Lendrz collapsed, too weak to even stay on his knees and his arms fell weakly to his side. His ears were ringing and his vision began to blur.

_Am I going to die...?_

Through the ringing, Lendrz heard the door open. “Lendrz? Where are you?” he heard Satella call. Lendrz tried to form words, but only blood escaped his lips. He heard the sound of flesh being cut followed by a thud when she fell. Satell was cut down before she could even make a sound. The sound of footsteps neared Lendrz. Once the assailant was close, Lendrz was nudged onto his back. Lendrz tried to identify the assailant, but his vision was too clouded by darkness to see properly, only able to see the faint figure of her.

_I'm going to die..._

“Wow, you’re still alive~ Pretty soon, you’re going to wish you were dead.” lendrz could only gurgle in response.

The figure knelt down close to Lendrz. She raised a knife stained in both purple and red before plunging it into Lendrz’s stomach. Lendrz felt a resurgence of pain but was too weak to do anything but lay there and take it. She pulled her knife from one end of his stomach to the other. Once the cut was long enough, she pulled the gash wide open. She reached down and grabbed onto Lendrz’s intestines and began pulling them out. Lendrz’s eyes flickered and he began weakly spasming. The pain was unbearable, but Lendrz couldn't do anything to defend himself. At this point, death would be a blessing.

“Your insides are so cold~,”’ the figure said, with almost childlike glee. She continued to reach inside of Lendrz, pulling out anything she could get her hands on.

Lendrz vision continued to darken and darken until it completely overtook his sight. He twitched one last time and was free from the pain.

_I’m dead…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz’s vision was too blurry to see anything, and his were ears still ringing. He looked around, trying to find out where he was, but a bright light clouded his vision. A voice called to Lendrz, but he ignored it. Finally, his vision cleared enough that he could see. He was standing in the market under the bright sun.

“Hey, didn't you hear me? Do you want to buy an appa or not?” a familiar green haired man asked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will, this is random, isn't it? This was just a little crossover with Re Zero because it's one of my favorite animes. The basic premise is that a regular guy gets teleported into another world and comes back to life every time he dies. I really like the concept, so I decided to write this little spin-off. This chapter follows the first episode pretty closely. I'm not sure how often I'm going to update this, because the main story is my focus. This chapter also tops one of my earlier chapters as the longest. it's so long because I wanted to have the first death scene in the first chapter. Under regular circumstances, this would have been two.
> 
> Disclaimer: Re Zero belongs to Tappei Nagatsuki
> 
> Criticism is welcome.


	11. The Search Begins

Lendrz leaned back in a booth in a flavor disk parlor. Gamzee sat across from him with his usual lazy smile. They had arrived at the stem cluster, but it had been far too close to dawn for them to begin their search. Lendrz arranged for a place during the day and contacted for Nepeta and Karkat to meet them at the parlor. 

The parlor was a well-kept place and renowned for its food, reserved for higher bloods. Booths lined the walls and tables were scattered across the polished tile floor. A large counter stood across the entrance with a teal cautiously eying the highbloods. The parlor was mostly empty, aside from a few higher blooded trolls. Lendrz and gamzee got in with no problem. Karkat and Nepeta might have some issue, so they situated themselves next to the entrance to keep an eye out for them. 

“Hey, bro, I just realized that if you put sopor on a flavor disk, then it would also be a sopor pie. Get it? Pie is another word for flavor disk.,” Gamzee said, chuckling at his own joke.

“Yes, Gamzee, I get it. But, I don’t think they have sopor as a topping here or anywhere for that matter,” Lendrz said, taping his finger on the table. 

“Nah, don’t worry about that. The sopor pie I bought was way filling, bro. You didn’t know what you were missing out on, bro.”

“Yeah, I’m fine with skipping out on eating the slime we sleep in. Thank you very much.”

The chime of the electric bell interrupted their conversation. They turned to see Nepeta and a troll Lendrz assumed was Karkat. Nepeta was dressed in her usual outfit with a feline smile.

Karkat was a short troll, only a few inches taller than Nepeta's own lacking height. He was dressed in simple grey slacks and a black turtleneck sweater. His hair was messily swept to upwards to the side and his bangs hung over his forehead. He had heavy bags under his leering eyes. The top of his teeth poked out of his lips and fixed into a permanent scowl.

The teal cashier took notice of the midblood and lowblood and moved to do something about it. Lendrz signaled to them for them to join them. “Hi, Lendrz. Hi, Gamzee,” Nepeta greeted them as she sat beside Lendrz. Karkat only nodded in acknowledgment as he sat beside Gamzee.

“It nice to see you again, Lendrz, “ Nepeta said.

“Likewise,” Lendrz answered.

“So, what’s the plan?,” Karkat spoke out for the first time in a harsh loud voice, almost shouting.

“What plan? All we need to do is stop by Captor’s place to check on him, which is probably nothing in the first place.

“Then what are we fucking doing just waiting around?”

“Because I heard this place has decent flavor disk, and I wanted to check this place out while I was here. I’m sure that Captor can wait just a little longer. Besides, this place is reserved for highbloods. What are the chances you’ll have another highblood to enter this place again?”

Karkat grumbled and leaned back in his seat, silently cursing under his breath.

“Don’t mew think we should help Sollux as soon as possible?” asked Nepeta.

“Like I said, I’m sure this whole ordeal isn’t a big deal,” Lendrz said, waving their concern off. “Right now, I’m more concerned with what toppings to get on my flavor disk. I’m thinking pepperoni. Can’t beat the classics.”

‘Yo, bro, I want a big ol’ sopor pie,” Gamzee added.

“Like I said, I don’t think sopor pie is a thing.”

“I want fish!” Nepeta cheered.

Karkat mumbled something under his breath. 

“What was that?” asked Lendrz.

“I said, ask if they have any fucking pineapple.”

“Pineapple? You’re in a highblood parlor and you get pineapple?”

“What? Pineapple is the worst kind of disk topping.”

“No, it’s fucking not! It’s the fucking best! That’s why it reserved for highbloods.”

“That’s a load of crap! You can't even give the stuff away.”

“Order the flavor disk and see.”

“Fine. You’ll be eating your own words soon enough.” Nepeta stood from her seat to allow Lendrz to leave the booth. He walked to the teal cashier. The cashier perked up when Lendrz approached and his lips curled into a strained smile.

“Hey, I’d like to make an order,” Lendrz said.

“Of course, sir. Anything for a highblood,” he said, struggling to keep his composure and speak.

“I have a question about your pineapple.”

“What’s your question, highblood?”

“Is pineapple a topping reserved for highbloods or not?”

“Uh, yes it is,” the cashier said, sweat beginning to drip from his hairline to his forehead.

Lendrz clenched his fist into a tight ball and said, “Fuck, that asshole was right. Fine, get me four personal flavor disk, one, yuck, pineapple, pepperoni, something with fish, and a cheese.”

“The fish might not be the best. The better fishes are reserved for the sea dwellers,” the cashier said, more and more sweat dripping down his face.

“Sure, that’s fine. Just make sure someone less sweaty to carry it to our table.”

“Of course. Just please don’t cull me,” he managed to squeak out, shaking in place.

“Stop fucking shaking. It looks like you’re going to piss yourself right where you’re standing.

The cashier couldn’t even manage to speak, only nodding his head. Lendrz returned to his seat and sat beside Nepeta. Karkat looked at Lendrz expecting and a smug smile replacing his usual scowl.

“Well, asshole? What he say?” Karkat asked.

“You were right. Pineapple is a topping reserved for highbloods. Happy now?”

“Yes, vary.”

“Congratulation, you managed to be right about the availability of a flavor disk topping. I hope you're proud of yourself.”

With Lendrz proved wrong and Karkat correct, Lendrz turned to Nepeta. “It’s been a while since we last talked in person. Has anything been going on with you?”

“No, nothing mew. Just hunting and drawing, as usual. There is something, though. Equius has been acting a little weird lately. I think I might have teased him too hard last time because he’s been avoiding me.”

“I’m sure he’s just thinking things over. He’ll come to his senses sooner or later. Now, enough talk. Looks like our flavor disks are ready,” Lendrz said, nodding his head in the direction of the approaching waiter who had a large tray full of person flavor disk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The disks were well worth the wait, even if Lendrz had to put up with Karkat’s constant whining about hurrying up once he stuffed his disk into his mouth right away. Nepeta was ecstatic about trying fish toppings, but Gamzee was a little disappointed with the lack of sopor. After the group finished eating, Lendrz led the group to one of the identical communal hives. They entered the building and headed upstairs and walked down the corridors until they were finally standing before a certain door.

“This is the place, Sollux’s hive. So, let’s just go ahead and check on him, so we can see that he’s fine and this whole endeavor was a huge waste of time,” Lendrz said, knocking on the door three times. The group waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no answer.

Karkat looked at Lendrz with a raised eyebrow. “He’s probably just probably passed out from lack of sleep or something.,” Lendrz said, turning back to the door. ‘I’ll just break the door open.”

“Sure, just break down the door. I’m sure breaking and entering will go along just well with Sollux,” Karkat said sarcastically and rolling his eyes.

“Pfft, relax. It’s not like we’ll get in trouble. I’m a highblood, remember?”

“Just be careful, Lendrz. We don’t want to make Sollux to mad,” Nepeta said.

Lendrz pressed his shoulder against the door and pushed gently. He felt a little resistance, but he heard a loud crack from the door and it suddenly gives way. The door swung open and Lendrz stumbled into the hive. Once he was in the hive, Lendrz looked around.

“Oh, fuck,” was all Lendrz could manage.

The entire hive looked like a hurricane had smashed through everything. The beehouse mainframes were in shambles, smashed and the bees were scattered all over the hives, all long dead. Furniture was destroyed, reduced to piles of shattered wood. All of his precious tech, once carefully maintained, was now just unidentifiable pieces of circuits and scrap. Even in their destroyed state, Lendrz could tell they were originally high-end electronics.

The rest of the group wasn’t too far behind, and they were just as stunned as him when they entered. The only one who could muster a word was Karkat.

“Holy fucking shit,” was all he said when he saw the carnage.

“Guess you were finally right about something, Vantas. Looks like something did happen to Captor,” Lendrz said after he recovered from his initial shock.

“What the fuck happened to him?” asked Karkat as he turned to Lendrz.

“I don’t know why you’re asking me. I know just as much as you. If you want to find out what happened to him, we’ll have to look around,” answered Lendrz as he began pacing around the room.

The rest of the group began searching around the room. Karkat and Nepeta began shifting the pile of rubbles that were once the goldblood’s belongings. Even Gamzee began looking around the room. Lendrz walked the Sollux’s recuperacoon, which he had neglected in his initial observation of the room. The recuperacoon had seen better days. It was covered in rips and tears, covered in red and blue slime. A particular big rip along the middle spilled red and blue slime all over the floor. Whatever adaptive in the slime that made it change color, it seemed they didn’t mix together, leaving only red and blue, not purple.

_Perhaps Captor was ambushed when he was sleeping? Whoever did this, it appears they came early in the night. It would also be safe to assume he’s still alive, as there is no corpse or any yellow blood._

Lendrz examined the dried slime. He noticed something metallic and glossy in the dried slime. Wincing, he reached into dried slime and pulled out one of Sollux’s shitty throwing stars. Lendrz raised an eyebrow. There was some purple with the red and blue slime on the blade. They were more blades in the slime. Like the one in his hand, they were purple on the blades. Some more purple blood was also spilled on the floor, but there wasn’t much.

_Woah, this is blood. Well, that answers one question. The troll who did this was a purple blood. This doesn’t look good for Sollux if he’s still alive at this point._

“Hey, guys, I think I know what happened to Sollux,” Lendrz said, as he turned to the others with a bloodstained throwing star in his hands.

“What happened to our gold bro?” asked Gamzee. The others began to gather around Lendrz.

“I found a few of Sollux’s throwing stars next to his wrecked recuperacoon. They’re stained with purple blood. Here’s one of them  
My guess is a subjugglator got ahold of him,” Lendrz said, showing them one of the stars.

“Shit, this is bad,” Karkat said, panic beginning to creep into his voice. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know what you guys are going to do, but I know what I’m going to do. I fulfilled my end of the bargain. I’m going home. Come on, Makara. I drove you here, so I’ll give you a ride back,” Lendrz said, walking to the door.

Lendrz walked past the other trolls but stopped at the door when he released Gamzee wasn’t following.

“What’s the holdup? Come on, let’s go.”

Gamzee stood near the others. His usually carefree expression was twisted into a determined look. “Listen, Lendrz, if our bro is in trouble, we have to help him. I’m going to stay with the others and help find Sollux,” Gamzee said.

“Gamzee’s right. We have to try to help Sollux. We can’t just do nothing,” Nepeta said determinedly.

“Yeah, dipshit,” Karkat added.

“Really? Are we just going to try to track down a single yellow blood in all of Alternia? He could be anywhere! That’s impossible,” Lendrz said, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, and we’ll do it with or without your help,” Karkat said.

Lendrz looked at the group. Each troll only stared back at him with determination on their faces. Their perseverance surprised Lendrz. Were they really willing to go that far for a single person?

Lendrz clucked his tongue in irritation. _This is going to be impossible, not to mention ridiculous. Not to mention, there’s a good chance it’ll be dangerous, too. I can’t believe they’re all just going to try to find Captor_ he thought.

Lendrz growled and relented. “Fine, I’ll help with the search for Captor.”

Nepeta smile when Lendrz said he would help. “I knew you would do the right thing,” she said, clapping her hands together excitedly.

“Before we go any further, do any of you even have the slightest idea on where we should start our search?” asked Lendrz.

“You’re right about that, bro,” Gamzee said. “Where do we start?”

“Well, if the purple blood on Sollux’s throwing stars are any indication, a subjugglator kidnapped him. He wasn’t killed on the spot, so that’s a good sign. Our best chance the dark carnival, which is a very bad sign,” said Lendrz,

“I don't get it. I know Sollux is an asshole, but I don’t get why anyone would want to kidnap him,” said Karkat.

“The answer's fairly obvious to me. I’m sure you you’ve noticed the mountains of contraband all over the place. The past could have finally caught up to him. There’s also the fact that he’s a high class psionic. He could have been taken to power some kind of ship. It’s not like there’s anything stopping them from doing it,” Lendrz answered. 

“So, where is the dark carnival, Lendrz?” asked Nepeta.

“There’s actually tons of carnival scattered around the world, and they have been known to travel now and then, but there is one not too far from here. I’ve never been it personally, but I’ve been keeping tabs on it. We can take momentum station to get there,” Lendrz answered.

“What the fuck are we waiting for, them? Let’s get going!” Karkat exclaimed.

“Fine, lead the way.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The steel locomotive barreled through the dark tunnels to the group’s destination. The group was seated in pairs, Nepeta with Lendrz and Karkat with Gamzee. They were only of few other trolls seated in the car. None of them were seated close to the group, but all of them nervously eyed the two highbloods. The windows only showed the dark walls of the tunnel as they charged through it. They had been seated for a while now, and they were almost at their destination. This particular carnival had been stationed there for a while, so they had settled there quite well. Even though the others were so determined about finding Sollux, Lendrz could see that they were visibly shaken about going to the dark carnival.

“Before we reach the carnival, I just want to warn you guys about it,” said Lendrz.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” asked Karkat.

“As I sure you’re already aware of, the dark carnival isn’t exactly a good place for a lowblood to be around, so make sure we all stick together. Don’t talk to anyone. Actually, don’t even look at anybody just to be safe. That goes for you too, Makara.”

“You got it, bro,” said Gamzee, giving Lendrz a thumbs up.

The locomotive began slowly grinding to a stop. A boarding station and a small crowd of people came into view as they stopped completely.

“Alright, we’re here. Follow me, the carnival isn’t too far from the station,” said Lendrz as he stood up and the rest stood up as well. The doors slid open to allow the other trolls to enter, but they stopped dead in their tracks when they spotted the pair of highbloods. The crowd parted before the group to allow them to pass unhindered. The climbed up the stairs, back into the cold night. This part of the cluster was almost empty, the dark carnival driving out most of the inhabitants. Only a handful of trolls were out and about, mostly higher bloods. They were more scraps of trash scattered on the street than they were people. All the buildings were abandoned and in severe disrepair. The group followed Lendrz as he traveled through the nearly abandoned section of the cluster.

Lendrz knew the location of the dark carnival, but he never thought about going. Despite his earlier confidence, but he was just as nervous as the others about going to the carnival, if not more. As they continued, Lendrz could hear a faint music in the distance. It was too faint to make out, but it became more and more clear with every second. The music was distorted and off-key, sounding like something from a horror movie or something. There was a badly tuned piano accompanied by a high pitched squeaky violin.

They turned the corner into a huge lot. There were large colorful tents pitched all over the place. The tents’ patterns ranged from stripes, polka dots, and all other patterns with all kinds of different colors with no particular order to them. A makeshift wall made of cloth strung over a tall chain link fence covered the perimeter. Now that they were close, the music was now blaring. There was a booth by the entrance manned by a large subjugglator. Other subjugglators walked between the tents, there chatting drowned out by the music. Colorful lights were shone all over the carnival and into the sky. 

“Well, we better get going. We’re not going to find Captor by just standing around, are we?” said Lendrz.

The sound of his voice snapped the others out of there stupor. Lendrz began walking to the entrance. The troll managing the entrance took notice of them as they neared.

“What’s your business here, brothers?” the burly trolls asked, eyeing Karkat and Nepeta. “More volunteers for the entertainment?”

“No, they’re our guest,” answered Lendrz.

The troll leaned close, getting a better look at Lendrz and Gamzee. ‘Hey, I’ve never seen you two around here before.”

“I’m sure you haven’t, as this is our first visit to the Carnival.”

“Yeah, bro. We’re first timers,” added Gamzee.

“Really? You two are a little too old to never been to the Carnival before. Well, you chose a good day for a visit. The ringmaster himself if organizing this night’s performance. Also, a word of advice. Keep a close eye on you lowblood friends of yours. Don’t want them to be drafted into the performance,” he said with a knowing wink.

“We’ll be fine. Thank you,” said Lendrz as they entered the carnival. “Remember my advice,” he whispered behind him one last time when they entered the throng of purple blooded trolls. The group did get the occasional curious glance from the others, but anytime anyone of them even tried approaching, Lendrz shot them a harsh glare. All the other trolls lost their nerve when they say Lendrz’s face.

Lendrz had never seen so many subjugglators in one place. They had some of the most audacious outfits and accessories Lendrz had ever seen. Some looked like they belonged as costumes that belonged in a play. Others were more modern or downright impractical. After all, the purple cast was known for being the eccentric caste, putting it mildly. Kanaya would probably lose her mind if she ever saw the kind of fashion that was being displayed.

The tents housed all kinds of games and entertainment. Some were more conventional, like Pin the Spear in the Lowblood, which consisted of crude over exaggerated painted targets of lowbloods, and the goal was to throw a spear at the targets. Other equally violent game required a living volunteer. Lendrz hurried past these particular tents, doing his best to ignore the sound of the games. The others were equally perturbed, Karkat looking awfully pale and squeamish. He kept his eyes down as he followed Lendrz. Nepeta was more stalwart than Karkat. She kept her steely gaze forward. If she was disturbed from some of the more violent games, she showed no sign of it. Gamzee wasn’t faring much better than the rest. His usual easygoing smile was replaced with a troubled frown. It seemed not even the dulling effect of sopor was enough to help Gamzee deal with this.

Karkat leaned in and whispered, “Do you even know where we’re going, Lendrz?”

“We’re looking for the ringmaster. If anyone here knows where Sollux could be, it would be him. The troll at the entrance told us that he was managing the main event, so we should try their first,” answered Lendrz.

“In other words, you have no idea where he is?”

“Shut up, I know where we’re going. He should be in the biggest tent with the most amount of trolls walking in and out of it.”

“Yeah, definitely don’t know where you’re going.”

“Just follow me.”

They continued to navigate through the maze of tents to the center of the carnival. With so many trolls around, it was hard to say what was a large concentration of them was. However, as they went, the crowd around them grew thicker and thicker. The small group huddled closer together to avoid being separated amongst the crowd. When they walked around a particularly large red and white striped tent, they spotted a large tent situated in the center of the carnival. Dozens of trolls walked in and out of the entrance at any given time.

“That’s the place, I’m sure of it. Follow me,” said Lendrz.

“You better be right about this,” grumbled Karkat.

With Lendrz at the lead, they entered the tent. They received a few glances when they entered, but no one tried to stop them. The group stepped into a large stadium. There was a large dirt field close off with a short circle wall. The circle was surrounded by wooden bleachers. A pair of poles shot high into the air on different ends of the performance area. Each pole had a small platform with a tightrope strung up between them. A handful of trolls bustling performance area, making setting up for the upcoming performance of the night. A decent amount of other trolls were already beginning to choose the seats close to the front. It seemed that the show would begin shortly.

In the center of its all was a troll dressed much more elaborate than all the others, and that was saying something. The troll was tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular, on the cusp of adulthood, likely to ascend with the next batch of adults. He wore a purple ringmaster’s coat with golden tassels on the on the shoulders and matching pants. A purple top hat covered his head, but not the horns. His horns curved upwards and outward from the side of his hat. He leaned forward, putting his weight on his elaborately carved wooden cane. He oversaw the trolls setting up the performance area. He mostly left them to their own devices, but he occasionally shouted an order to another troll with a deep gravelly voice.

“If anyone the ringmaster, it would be him,” Lendrz said pointing at the troll. “Follow me and let me do the talking.”

“I just hope you know what you’re doing, Lendrz,” said Nepeta.

Lendrz took a deep breath before walking to the ringmaster. The ringmaster took notice of the group and turned to greet them.

“Why, greeting, brothers. Would these trolls perhaps be volunteers for tonight show?” he asked, gesturing to Karkat and Nepeta.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you on that one. We’re just here for some answers,” Lendrz said.

That’s an odd request. Well, what can I do for you?” 

A sudden commotion caught everyone’s attention. A large cage on wheels was rolled inside the tent. A large tarp was draped over the cage, hiding its contents from view, but what was inside could still be heard.

There were the shouts and screams coming from inside the cage. The voices were obviously from other trolls, but no one paid it any mind. Lendrz couldn’t help but flinch slightly as the cage was wheeled through the tent into a closed-off section of Lendrz didn’t notice before. The others of the group were disturbed as well. Karkat’s scowl deepened, Nepeta crossed her arms and avoided looking at the cage, and Gamzee frowned regrettably. The ringmaster took notice of the group’s reaction, especially Lendrz’s and Gamzee’s reaction. The ringmaster grinned mischievously

“You weren't kidding when you said you were first timers. Say, why don’t you stick around for the show. I’ll even make sure you get front row seats. Heck, I’ll even put you and your friends in the splatter zone, where all the blood splashes during our messier performances.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. We’re actually just looking for a friend of ours. His name Sollux Captor. He’s a high powered psionic, one eye red and the other blue. We stopped by his hive, and it wrecked. We didn’t find a body and some purple blood, so we assumed that this was the place to look. Do you know anything or not?”

The ringmaster ignored Lendrz’s question. “You know, it’s quite rude to ignore a host’s invitation. In fact, I’m so offended that I don’t think I can answer your questions,” the ringmaster said, feigning an over exaggerated hurt look and reeling back.

“So, you’re not going to tell us anything, are you?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. Say, how about we negotiate a deal?” the ringmaster asked, his fiendish smirk returning to his face.

“What kind of deal are you talking about?” asked Lendrz, beginning to feel off-put by the ringmaster’s demeanor.

“As you recall, I’m short by a couple of performers for tonight's performance. My other guests have been a little too enthusiastic with some of the other activities than I expected involving out lowblood volunteers. This is the first show I put on in a while, and I need everything to go over smoothly. I’m sure you know where I’m going with this,” he said, leaning in close, his smile splitting his face in the middle from ear to ear.

Lendrz growled. His patience with the ringmaster was beginning to wane. Gamzee spoke up before Lendrz could say anything. 

“What exactly do you want us to do?” Gamzee asked.

“You’re not the smart one, are you?” the ringmaster said, rolling his eyes.

“He wants us to perform in his stupid show, Gamzee” Karkat answered with his usual irritable tone.

“Correction. I only need two of you to perform,” the ringmaster interjected. “Also, I would watch which show you call stupid, lowblood. I won’t be so forgiving the next time you do so,” his voice deepening to into a growl as he shot a glare at Karkat.

“Alright, since it’s your friend that you’re looking for, I assume you’re going to perform, Karkat,” Lendrz said, turning to said troll.

Karkat hesitated, but he turned back to the ringmaster. “What kind of performance are you talking about?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady, but he couldn’t quite keep the tremble off of it entirely.

“There are two empty positions. I need a tightrope artist and an escape artist. I’ll leave it up to you four to decide who does what,” he answered. “I’ll give you a moment to discuss among yourselves.”

The group huddled together to decide. “I assume you going to volunteer for one of the spots, Karkat since it’s your friend that we’re looking for. It was already a huge fucking hassle for me to help you, and I’m sure as hell not going to risk my life for Captor,” Lendrz said.

Karkat frowned and avoided looking at the rest of the group. He murmured something under his breath, but no one could hear it.

“What was that? Speak up,” said Lendrz

“I’m not going to perform, okay?” Karkat hissed angrily, glaring at Lendrz.

“And why is that?”

“I would, but I don't want to risk… bleeding,” he finished with shame in his voice, and he once again refuses to look at the rest of the group.

Lendrz rolled his eyes. “Really? You’re not volunteering because you’re scared of shedding a little blood? Not the whole possibly dying part?

Karkat looked down at his feet, refusing to look up to meet the eyes of anyone in the group.

“Then, it seems we’re at an impasse, then. I suggest we all just go home.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, bro. I’ll volunteer for one of those spots,” Gamzee said suddenly, surprising Lendrz.

“What? Really? You do realize that this is the dark carnival, right? The performances are lethal if you make a mistake. And, no offense, Makara, but you’re not exactly the best suited for either of the performances,” said Lendrz.

“I can do it if you just let me, bro.”

The only thing you will manage to do is get yourself killed, Makara.”

“I’ll do the tightrope performance,” the familiar voice of Nepeta spoke up.

Lendrz turned to her with a raised eyebrow. “You heard what I just told Gamzee, right? There's a very real chance that you could be grievously injured or even culled?”

“Sollux is my furend, too, Lendrz. I just can’t let one of my furends possibly get hurt if I can do something to help them,” she said firmly while staring at his eyes with steel in her voice.

Lendrz tisked. He briefly thought about trying to convince Nepeta otherwise, but just as quickly abandoned the notion. He doubted there was anything he could say to stop her.

“Fine. That’s one position filled, but what about the other? We need an escape artist. Last time I checked, our little company of ours has a distinct lack of those.”

“But, you can do it, Lendrz. With your strength and psionics, I’m sure you can break out of anything they throw at you,” Nepeta said, her steely voice becoming soft and pleading.

The corner of Lendrz’s lips twitched, and he frowned. “You’re kidding me, right? Do you really expect me to do anything to help the bastard? I’m already here in the middle of the dark carnival when I said I’d only lead you where Sollux lived. I think I’ve done more than enough,” Lendrz rerouted.

“Come on, Lendrz. They won’t be expecting you. They’ll probably think one Karkitty or me will do it. You can just break out of anything they put you in easily,” Nepeta said, clasping her hands together and the too familiar pleading eyes.  
Lendrz mulled over her suggestion silently. _As much as I loathe to do anything that helps Sollux, Nepeta has a point. The ringmaster probably expects Gamzee and I to force her and Vantas to do it. With my strength and psionics, I’m sure I can break out of anything they throw at me._

“Fine,” Lendrz said reluctantly. “I’ll do the performance.”

“Great,” Nepeta said, bouncing on her heels. “Let’s go tell the ringmaster. The group broke up and returned to the ringmaster stood.

“We’ve made our decision. Nepeta will participate in the tightrope performance,” Lendrz said, jabbing a thumb in Nepeta’s direction. “I will perform the escape artist performance.”

If the ringmaster was surprised by their decision, he didn't show it. If anything, his smile only grew wider. 

“That’s amazing, just amazing,” he said with his large smile and eager eyes. “Allow my stagehands to show you backstage.” He waved to a couple of the trolls setting up the stage. “Take the olive blood and the troll with four horns backstage to prepare. The others can come if they wish,” he finished, gesturing to the group.

Without saying a word, Lendrz and the others followed the stagehands deeper into the tent, to where they would prepare for their first and potentially last performance as the dark carnival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been a while since the last update, a little longer than expected. I kind of just fell into a slump over the summer. Hopefully, the next chapter will come out a bit faster.
> 
> As always, criticism is welcome.


	12. The Show Must Go On

The group was escorted deeper into the tent wordlessly by the stagehands. Soon, they left the performance area of the tent and entered a smaller closed off section. The room was a small dressing room of sorts. It was brightly lit with mirrors, stools, wardrobes stuffed to the brim with clothing, and other kinds of accessories for the performers to prepare. There was also a screen tucked into the corner to allow some privacy while one changed, All the other trolls that were locked up in the cage were absent from the room. It seemed this room was reserved for the more regular highblood performers.

One of the stagehands finally spoke. “You will wait here until you are called,” the stagehand spoke. “Until then, you will be free to make yourself more presentable. You should make good use of that time. Before we go, what are your names of the performers?”

“Nepeta’s going to perform in the acrobatics performance. My name’s Lendrz,” Lendrz said.

The stagehands nodded before turning to leave. Lendrz watched the stagehands leave them to their own devices. “You know, I think that stagehand just called us ugly,” Lendrz said dryly before turning back to the others.

Nepeta was busy examining the room, checking the wardrobes. Karkat was sitting in a chair behind one of the mirrors, staring at his own reflection with his usual scowl. Gamzee was standing in the middle of the room, staring off into space. 

_I should try the wardrobe. If my clothes get ruined, I don’t have any way to replace them anytime soon._

Lendrz approached one of the overstuffed wardrobes. There were all kinds of clothing in the drawer. Mostly, it was filled with nauseatingly colorful colors costumes and designs. Each costume was radically different from the one that came before it. The wardrobes were probably where they stored any extra costumes. Lendrz kept searching through the wardrobe for something more conventional. There was no way Lendrz would be caught dead in any of the costumes. Finally, at the bottom of the wardrobe, near the back, Lendrz find a few regular garments. He fished out a plain black shirt and grey jeans with a belt.

“Hey, Nepeta, you should think about changing clothes, too. We’re a long way from home, and we’ll probably have to go even further before this is over,” Lendrz said as he ducked behind the screen to change.

“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me, Lendrz. I’ll just captchalogue my coat,” she said, slipping off her coat and depositing it in her sylladex. Her already small frame looked even smaller without her large coat. Lendrz shrugged before continuing to behind the screen.

The shirt was a little large, but it was manageable. The same went for the jeans, but the belt made it fit just fine. Lendrz stepped out from behind the screen and stashed his clothing in his sylladex as well. 

“Are you ready, Nepeta?” Lendrz asked, turning to the troll.

She had finished her search of the room and was sitting beside Karkat. She nodded in response

“The mighty huntress can take anything the world throw at her,” she said with a confident smile.

“Don’t be so overconfident, Nepeta. We don’t want any unpleasant surprises, do we?” Lendrz chastised her.

“You should stop worrying so much about me so much. How about we start worrying about you, big tough guy?”

“I am the last person you should be worrying about. There’s nothing they can’t throw at me that I can’t handle.”

“Who’s being overconfident now?,” Nepeta shot back coyly with a light smile.

“That’s because when I say it, it’s a fact,” Lendrz snarked back with a smile of his own.

“How about you both just shut up and get ready for whatever this shitshow has to offer,” the borderline yelling of Karkat interrupted the two.

“What are you so worried about? All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the show,” Lendrz answered.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the idea of seeing a couple of trolls that I know fairly well get brutally culled because I’m too much of a wuss to volunteer!” karkat said, every word that came out of his mouth getting louder and louder.

The room fell silent as everyone stared at Karkat. His chest was falling and rising rapidly as his eyes darted from troll to troll. After a few moments of silence, Karkat slumped in his chair and let breathed out heavily.

“Yo, are you doing okay, bro,” Gamzee spoke up for the first time in a while.

Karkat sat in silence before answering. “Yeah, I’m fine, Gamzee,” he answered, massaging his temple with his fingers.

“You sure? Because it doesn't sound like your fine, bro?”

“Yeah, Karkitty, you have to tell us what’s wrong,” Nepeta added.

“Yes, Karkitty, do have anything to say,” Lendrz said, in a slightly mocking voice.

Karkat scowled at Lendrz before answering. “It’s just that- fuck- I would have volunteered if I wasn’t such a fucking coward because of my fucking blood,” he said, looking down, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Just stop worrying about it. What’s done is done. We’ll complete our performances, and we’ll be on our way soon enough. Besides, what’s the big deal about your blood anyway? The worse it could be is burgundy,” Lendrz said.

“...Yeah, you’re right,” Karkat said after a moment's hesitation. “Burgundy at worst.”

The sound of footsteps approaching broke them out of their conversation. The same stagehands arrived. “I see you two didn’t take our advice,” one of them said, eyeing Lendrz and Nepeta from top to bottom. Anyway, we’re here to escort you for your performance.”

“Is it time already? Feels like no time at all.” Lendrz said.

“Now, follow us. Your friends can come with if they’d like”

We’re with you every step of the way, bro, and sis,” Gamzee said, getting to his feet.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll fucking come, too,” Karkat said, standing up as well.

“Well, come on, Nepeta. No good in delaying the inevitable,” Lendrz said, getting up to follow the stagehands.

Nepeta nodded and followed Lendrz with Karkat and Gamzee. They were once again led through the dimly lit passages of the tent before they arrived at the main attraction. The stagehands had done a splendid job preparing the stage. Colorful streamers were wound around the wooden pillars of the stage. A few stagehands stood off to the side of the stage, cradling clubs spattered with lower blood colored clubs. Darker colored blood was strewn all over the stage, but there were no corpses to be found. The stagehands were very efficient, it seemed.

“Wait here,” one of the stagehands raised their hands to stop the group “The last performers is… finishing up.” The stagehand pointed to a troll Lendrz hadn’t noticed before standing in the near the bleachers.

In front of the bleachers was a large troll-sized spinning wheel on a stand. A purple blood dressed in an elegant dress of all different shades of purple. The troll was standing a fair bit away from the wheel. She was facing Lendrz and the group, but her attention remained raptly focused on whatever was on the other side of the wheel. The audience's eyes were also locked on the wheel.

The highblood produced a large, shining throwing knife from within the folds of her dress. Most likely, the knives were in her strife specibus, and reaching into her dress was just for show. She raised the knife in the air, making sure everyone in the stands got a good look. The crowd leaned in close and watched on with baited breath. With practiced grace, she flung the knife in one smooth movement. The shining knife twirled through the air before slamming into the wheel with a thick thud. There was a sudden burst up movement, followed by a burst of muffled screaming, but it settled down after a few seconds. It didn’t take a genius to figure out a troll was strapped and gagged onto the wheel.

The ringmaster’s voice rang out from some hidden speakers. “I hope everyone here has been enjoying the show so far. As we’re nearing the end of both this performance and the show-” the ringmaster was interrupted by the crowd loudly booing.

“I know, I know, but all good things must come to an end, and this show is no exception,” he continued after the crowd settled down. “That being said, I have a heck of a finale prepared for my lovely guests today. For now, you all will have to stay in the dark. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, do we?” For now, why don’t we wrap up this performance and get the show moving again.”

The highblood performing pulled one last blade from her and lazily tossed it towards the wheel. This time, instead of a solid thump, there was a meaty thud. The troll strapped to the wheel began struggling frantically and the shouting was even louder than last time. The sudden burst of moment stopped as soon as it began. Lendrz was unsure whether or not was alive or not. The voice spoke once again.

“Oof, that looks like it hurt Let’s give them one last round of applause,” the ringmaster said. 

The purple blood smiled brightly as she waved to the crowd. The crowd cheered and clapped as she waved. A stagehand came from the sidelines and began moving the now motionless wheel. The highblood stayed for a little while longer, taking in the applause before leaving as well. The tent was silent before the ringmaster spoke again.

“Now that that’s over, we’re onto our next performance. The next performer is an actual willing volunteer.”

There was muttering and whispering among the crowd. Lendrz could just make out the confused chattering. From the sound of it, they were questioning why would anyone would willingly volunteer to perform in this twisted carnival. Lendrz couldn’t but agree with them.

“I know, I was just as surprised as the rest of you. Now, without further ado, Let’s welcome our next performer!”

A spotlight loudly clicked on. A powerful beam of light shone in in the center of the stage.

The stagehand nudged Nepeta forward and said, “You’re up first.”

Nepeta nodded and braced herself for what came next. She stepped into the middle stage and into the spotlight. Every eye was trained on Nepeta. Her eyes were wide and she seemed taken back by the sudden intense attention. She seemed so small at the center of the center of everyone's attention. Lendrz silently wished Nepeta good luck.

“How about we give a big round of applause for the first of our willing volunteers, Nepeta!”

The crowd cheered and clapped as Nepeta stepped into the light. After a few moments, the audience died down and the ringmaster continued.

“Now, onto the show. To begin, Let’s have our performer climb to the tightrope, shall we?”

Nepeta looked around the crowd before taking a deep breath and began climbing one of the wooden pillars. Higher and higher, she climbed until she reached the top. If she fell from that height, Lendrz doubted she would survive. Nepeta surveyed the crowd when she was on top, and the crowd stared back eagerly. The voice of the ringmaster caught everyone’s attention.

“All our performer has to do to complete her act is to make it to the other pillar without falling. If she does fall, well, it doesn't take a genius to find out what would happen. Actually, before we begin, why don’t we make things a bit more interesting?”

On queue, several stagehands began bustling around the stage. They quickly set up a large safety net spanning underneath the tightrope. The crowd began to complain, but the ringmaster spoke before long.

“Now, before any of you say anything, we’re not done.”

A stagehand approached the net with a lit torch in hand. He approached the net and lit the net. The fire quickly danced across the entirety of the net. The flames licked upward towards Nepeta, eager to embrace the olive troll. Lendrz scowled and moved forward to try to help her, but a hand stopped Lendrz. His head whipped around and he growled at whoever stopped him. To his surprise, it was Karkat who stopped him.

“What do you think you’re doing, Vantas?” Lendrz growled. “Move aside, or I’ll make you move.”

“Well, fucking excuse me for trying to stop some coldblooded idiot from doing something stupid and getting us all killed,” Karkat hissed back, undaunted Lendrz’s threat.

“What do you mean?”

“Just look around, dipshit. Did you forget that we’re in the middle of a dark carnival? I know I haven’t. If we try to help her, we’ll only get ourselves killed, including Nepeta.”

Lendrz scowled and stepped back. Karkat was right. Any interferences during the performance would be met with failure and everyone’s death.

“I wouldn’t be too worried about that, bro. She looks like she’s doing just fine,” Gamzee said, pointing upward at the tightrope.

Lendrz and Karkat looked up and saw that Nepeta was nearly halfway there. The tightrope slightly buckled under her weight. She moved along the tightrope with ease. With her eyes solely focused on the way ahead, shutting out the outside world, the stares of the other trolls. Lendrz had known that Nepeta possessed a fitting catlike grace, but this was on another level. The crowd was just a taken back as Lendrz and the others. Clearly, they had expected Nepeta to fail spectacularly. Lendrz couldn’t tell whether this was a pleasant surprise or a disappointment. After a few more moments of silence, the ringmaster spoke again.

“Well, it seems our performer is doing better than expected,” he said, his voice bright and cheery, but there was an obvious edge as well. He was not pleased with the turn of events. “How about we make this a little more interesting with some audience participation.”

When he finished speaking, a handful of stagehands entered the tent, each one pushing a wheelbarrow of overly ripe fruit. They pushed the wheelbarrow to the stands. 

Lendrz wanted to help Nepeta, but Karkat’s earlier warning reminded him what would happen to them if he tried anything. As much as Lendrz hated to admit it, he was powerless to help Nepeta.

The trolls in the stands eagerly take the fruit and pass the fruit amongst themselves. Soon, the entire crowd had armed themselves with their choice of artillery. All the while, Nepeta continued, focusing only on the path ahead. The crowd began to lob their cargo at Nepeta. The fruit flew through the air fast but inaccurate, most missing Nepeta and the tightrope easily. Only a few were actually a danger to her. She ducked under the first fruit, whizzing past where her head by a mile. Another sped to her chest, but she swatted the fruit aside as if it was flying at a snail’s pace. She continued through the rest of the tightrope, dodging or slapping aside any fruit that went her way. She reached the final few feet of the tightrope, but the hail of fruit continued. As she neared the next platform, a couple of lucky throws sent a few ripe tomatoes to her legs. Nepeta was preoccupied dodging and blocking the fruit to possibly to do anything to defend herself. To the surprise of everyone, she bent her knees low, the tightrope dipping low, and she leaped high into the air. The fruit sailed below her and splatted harmlessly onto the ground. Nepeta seemed to float at the apex of her jump before she began to drop. Instead of plummeting to the floor, she gracefully landed back on the tightrope perfectly. The crowd was stunned and halted in their throwing for a few seconds. During that time Nepeta slinked through the rest of the tightrope, stepping safely onto the platform.

The crowd watched in awe, unable to believe that a random mid blood could survive walking through the tightrope unscathed. Slowly, one of the trolls began to clap. The clapping spread from troll to troll until the entire crowd began clapping and cheering. Karkat had a rare, small smile on his face. Gamzee had a large smile reaching from ear to ear. Lendrz had his own smile as he looked up at Nepeta.

Nepeta looked around at the ecstatic crowd, disbelief written on her face. After looking around, her eyes settled Lendrz and the others. She smiled and waved down at them.

“That was unexpected,” the ringmaster, rage, and bitterness barely restrained from his voice. “With that over with, let’s continue onto our next performance. If Nepeta would be so kind as to climb down, we’ll introduce our next performer.

Lendrz didn’t need one of the stagehands to tell him it was his turn. He stepped forward into the center of the stage and the same spotlight from earlier clicked on, shining on Lendrz with near blinding light. He raised an arm to block the intense light. Lendrz could barely see the crowd through the intense glare of the light. He did, however, hear the shocked when the light illuminated his purple sign.

The ringmaster announced his reveal. “This is our second and last willing performer, Lendrz!. He’s an extra special performer. As you can see, Lendrz is one of our own, and he will be our escape artist for tonight. My assistant will wheel out the second part of our performance.”

A stagehand wheeled out a large clear glass tank on a dollie. The stagehand rolled to the center and unloaded it next to Lendrz. Now that it was closer, Lendrz could examine it more closely. It was about a foot taller than him and big enough to completely encase and then some. The glass was several inches thick and glossy. There was a pair of holes close together were at chest level with a pair of adjustable thick metal cuffs apart of them. Another lock was placed directly below the holes keeping the doors sealed tight. A small hole was built into the back covered in thick metal mesh, but it was only big enough to maybe fit an arm through. The stagehand produced a key and unlocked the door.

“Now, the objective is easy enough. All he has to do is escape the trap once he has been sealed inside by picking the lock on both his cuffs and the one below them. Lendrz, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what to do.”

The stagehand opened the door and gestured for Lendrz to enter. Lendrz took a deep breath before stepping into the glass box. The stagehand closed the door behind him Lendrz stuck his hand through the cuffs and they were locked as well after some adjustments, making the box airtight aside from the grate at the top. Now, he was forced to look directly into the audience. Every face in the crowd was leaning in, eager to get a look at the highblood that was willingly performing. The stagehand handed him a single flimsy lockpick.

“Better not drop it,” the stagehand said before they stepped away.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it’s about time I made things more interesting,” the ringmaster announced.

As soon as he finished his sentence, a stagehand attached a long flexible tube to the hole in the back. The other end led to the top of the tank somewhere in the depths of the tent. Once the tube was attached, cold water began gushing into the tank. 

“Fuck,” Lendrz cursed under his breath as he felt the water began pooling around his feet. In a matter of seconds, the water had risen to his ankles. He quickly began trying to yank his arms from the cuffs from the tank. To his surprise, the cuffs didn't budge an inch. 

“As I’m sure Lendrz has noticed by now, the entire tank has been reinforced to prevent any troll from escaping, including highbloods. You could try all you want for hours, and you wouldn’t be able to even scratch the tank’s surface… not that you have all day. In fact, you probably don’t even have five minutes, seeing as you already have way up to your knees.”

Lendrz grit his teeth and growled. The ringmaster was right. His strength wasn’t enough to break through his restraints and he was running out of time fast. While he could try to channel his flames from another part of his body, but he only practiced with his hands. He would have to free his hands if he wanted to free properly utilize his flames. The only chance he had was picking the lock with the pick. Unfortunately, Lendrz had never even attempted to pick a lock in his life. 

Lendrz took the lockpick and stuck it into the lock. He wiggled around, trying to feel some kind of click or anything to let him know he was doing something right, but the lock remained shut tight and silent.

_Fuck, there’s no way I can pick the lock, even if I had all the time in the world. There has to be another way!_

Lendrz tried jerking the lock again, but it worked just as well as the last time he tried. The water had now begun to lap at his chest. It began to rase Lendrz, but the cuffes kept him ancored in place. He needed a different approach. Looking through the glass at the lockpick, an idea came to mind. It was risky, but it was worth a shot. He stuck the lockpick into the lock again and slowly began channeling his physionics into through the lockpick into the lock. The next part could be a little dangerous, seeing as the lockpick was a poor catalyst for his psionics.

He steadily increased the energy he was channeling until- _CRACK!_

The lockpick shattered inside the keyhole and destroying the lock in the progress. Lendrz dropped what was left of it, the sudden explosion taking him by surprise even when he was expected it. The lockpick may have been destroyed, but he succeeded in getting a hand free. The crowd gasped when the lockpick exploded, but Lendrz had too much to worry about. The water was now up to the base of his neck. With a hand free, he pushed his hand further through to reach the other cuff. Lendrz channeled an intense flame directly into the inner workings of the lock. Slowly, the mechanisms inside the lock began to belt until they released his other hand.

With both hands free, Lendrz now had to focus on the last luck, but he almost had no time left. The water was now beginning to cover his mouth. Before it could rise any further, Lendrz took one last deep gulp of air. With both hands free, he reached further through the unlocked cuffs and began working with the last lock. In that short amount of time, the water had now submerged his entire body, making any chance at breathing impossible.

Lendrz began focusing his flame, but the lack of air made it nearly impossible to concentrate. His vision began to darken and his thoughts began to grow clouded and a deep pain began to settle in his lungs, but he pressed on. The lock growing weaker and weaker, but Lendrz strength was draining faster. His thoughts began to slow and the flame flickered. The flame was on its last legs before the lock gave and the door abruptly open.

Lendrz's arms slipped off the cuffs and he fell forward, landing heavily onto the floor. The water rushing through the open door as well. He began coughing harshly, spitting out the water he inhaled while in the tank. Finally, he manage to take a deep breath once his lungs were clear and sat up. Once Lendrz had recovered, he realized the crowd was cheering and clapping. Through his stupor and the cheering of the crowd, he heard the ringmaster speak up.

“It looks like another one of our performers has successfully completed their performance. What a pleasant surprise,” the ringmaster committed, not even attempting to hide the disdain in his voice. “This act marks the official end of the show, but there’s still plenty of other entertainment outside to enjoy.”

The crowd stood from their seats, beginning to steadily trickle to the exits, chatting amongst themselves as they left. Once the crowd left, Nepeta and the rest approached him. Gamzee reached down and helped Lendrz onto his feet. Lendrz leaned heavily against Gamzee to stay upright.

“You okay, bro?” Gamzee asked.

“No, not really. Almost drowned in there,” Lendrz answered, leaning heavily on Gamzee.

“I’m just glad you made it,” Nepeta said.

“Shit, that was way closer than expected. Didn’t think the ringmaster was so thorough with the trap, Lendrz gasped out.

“Do we have anything to help him?” asked Karkat.

“No, I should be fine. Just need to catch my breath, get some air,” Lendrz said, starting to put more weight on his own feet.

The ringmaster spoke through the speakers again, interrupting the group. “That was certainly unexpected. As I’m sure you figured out by now, neither of you were supposed to survive that. Anyway, I’m a troll of my word. One of my assistants will be with you shortly. We have some talking to do.”

From the depths of the tent emerged another troll, but it wasn’t one of the many assistants. It was the knife throwing troll from earlier. She slicked through the tent to stand in front of them. 

“That was quite the performance you two put on,” she said with a slow feminine drawl. “Come on, I’ll escort you to the ringmaster’s office.”

“I think I can stand on my own. Thanks,” Lendrz said, now standing fully on his own. Lead the way.”

They followed the troll deeper still in the tent. _How big is the tent?_ Lendrz wondered to himself as they followed closely behind the toll.

After a little more walking, they arrived in a small, neat office. A small desk and chair was the only piece of furniture in the room. The ringmaster was currently sitting behind the desk with hands folded in front of him. He didn’t even attempt to hide the scowl from his face.

“Well, if it isn't tonight’s stars. Didn’t expect you to have any psionic powers,” he growled. “You have questions and I may have answers. What do you want to know?”

Karkat opened his mouth to speak, but the ringmaster raised a finger, silencing him. “I wasn’t talking to you, lowblood,” the ringmaster hissed.

“Let him talk. I came along with him to help him. Besides, I’m still a little out of it at the moment,” Lendrz answered.

The ringmaster shot Lendrz a glare but didn’t object.

“As I was saying,” Karkat continued, “we’re looking for a missing friend. His name is Sollux Captor.”

A look of surprise and recognition flashed across the troll’s features, but he quickly masked it. The ringmaster straightened up before looking over them with a more critical eye.

“Yes, I have,” the ringmaster said slowly.

“Really? How do you know?” asked Nepeta.

The highblood was silent for a moment before answering. “Before I say anything else, you have to understand that I caught doing whatever it is you’re doing, you’ll have to deny that I ever told you anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. What you say now won’t leave this room,” Lendrz assured the other troll.

The ringmaster nodded in acknowledgment. “As it so happens, we did have something to do with Sollux’s disappearance.”

“So, he is here!” Karkat said.

“No, Sollux is not here. You actually just missed him.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Lendrz.

“You see, there have been some reports about someone messing with the delivery drones. Mostly high-end tech that was forbidden to lowbloods.”

_I knew Sollux would get himself into trouble if he kept it up, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast._

“After I had some of my guys look into it we found his address, and it turns out your little friend was the cause of it all. He was registered as a psionic, so had to take him by surprise. I had a couple of guys head over there, jump him, and slap a psionic suppression collar on him without too much trouble. Originally, I had planned to use him on tonight’s performance, but I got a better deal elsewhere.”

“What deal? Who did you make it with?” asked Lendrz.

The ringmaster sighed before speaking again. “Remember when I said everything I say has to stay between us. I could get in very big trouble if someone finds about this.”

“I already promised I wouldn’t say anything, and I’m sure the same goes with the others,” Lendrz answered. The others nodded in agreement.

“A few seadwellers dropped by. They were searching for a high level psionic to power a ship they were building, and they wanted to know if I had any. They offered me a pretty hefty sum for him, and you don’t exactly say no to a seadweller, so I made the deal.”

Lendrz’s eyes widened and his voice caught in his throat. The rest of the group was similarly affected. Finally, Lendrz regained his composure and said, “Uh, I don’t think I heard you right. You said the seadwellers have him.”

“You heard right, and I didn’t say anything wrong,” the ringmaster said.

_I knew Sollux was in deep shit, but this is something else. Can’t believe the seadwellers have him This just became impossible._

“Do you know where he is?” asked Lendrz.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” the ringmaster answered. “The seadwellers wouldn’t stop bragging about their ship. The said it was being built on the coast near their hive not too far from here. Just get to the coast and go directly north. You shouldn’t be able to miss the giant ship being built by dozens of carpenter drones.”

“Shit, I don’t what we’re going to do,” Karkat said.

“Let me make a suggestion for you. How about your little group give up and go back to your hives,” the ringmaster said, his voice taking a sudden edge. “If the seadwellers find out I told you guys about our deal, I could get in some serious trouble.”

“You really should take the boss’s advice. It’s better for your health,” the knife thrower spoke out for the first time since they arrived. 

To get the point across, she pressed the edge of one of her large razor-sharp knives to Lendrz’s very vulnerable jugular. Lendrz narrowed his eyes at the ringmaster. He would have to choose his words very carefully if they wanted to make it out alive.

“So, what’s the plan? Kill me and then what? There’s only two of you and four of us,” Lendrz said carefully.

The ringmaster gave a small laugh. “Two can play at this game. You have a knife pressed against your neck. You’ll die before anything else can happen. And, what do you expect that panless idiot to do,” he said, pointing to a frowning Gamzee. “So, really, it’s a couple of highbloods against a couple of lowbloods.”

Lendrz balled his hands tightly into fists. The ringmaster was right. There was nothing he could do.

“But,” the ringmaster continued, ignoring Lendrz’s rage,” it would be incredibly unprofessional of me to cull my own performers after they survive a show. I gave you my word, too. Congratulations on being one of the few performers to walk away from a dark carnival performance.”

The knife thrower withdrew her knife and Lendrz quickly stepped away from her. She gave a devilish grin before moving to stand beside the ringmaster. Before the group could leave, the ringmaster called out to the group one last time.

“One last thing before you leave. If you get captured by the seadwellers, make sure you don’t tell them about me. Because, if you do, I’ll make sure every one of your friends pays the price, no matter who they are or where. Keep that in mind if they decide to torture you.”

Finally being able to leave, Lendrz and the others began to quickly exit the room, but the ringmaster’s last chilling remark was still echoing through his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School has started up again and I have an inconvenient schedule, so this fic has been on the backburner for a while. Sorry about that, but school comes 's first. Anyway, I wasn't very satisfied with Lendrz's trap. I didn't feel like I did a good job building tension, but I think Nepeta's was pretty good. For the next chapter, I feel like doing another To Begin From Zero followed by an ancestor chapter. Till next time.
> 
>  
> 
> As always, reviews and criticism are welcome.


	13. To Begin From Zero: A second Life

Lendrz stood in silence in front of the familiar appa stand. The sound of his heart that was once slow was now hammering within his chest. He blinked a few times, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. In a shocked state, Lendrz walked past Kadoma, ignoring his earlier questions. Lendrz walked down the main street, dull to the world around him. The world around continued as normal, the normalcy of the world seemingly mocking the brutality Lendrz had gone through. 

Lendrz pressed his hand against his stomach, where moments ago he had just been gutted. The physical pain was gone, but the memory was still fresh and overwhelming. The feeling of having your gut sliced open and your innards slowly pulled out one by one wasn’t something you shrugged off. He could taste the bitter bile that was rising in the back of his throat. Lendrz forced the bile back down his throat and continued down the path. He took a deep breath to calm his beating blood pumper.

_Fuck! What the hell happened? One second I’m being gutted like a fish and the next I’m back where I started. There was no way I dreamed that. It was way too real. That means I really did die and get brought back to life in the past. How is that possible? It has to have something to do with whatever brought me here in the first place._

As these questions went through Lendrz’s mind, a familiar head of silver entered his field of vision. Lendrz’s eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks. Walking towards him was Satella, alive and well. She walked down the road, looking around the market with a small smile on her face, but Pack was nowhere to be found. Just seconds ago, she had been lying still in a puddle of her own blood.

_I really did go back in time. Satella’s alive! Kadoma didn’t remember me, does that mean Satella won’t remember me either. There’s only one way to find out. ___

__Lendrz approached Satella and raised a hand to stop her. “Uh, this might sound like a weird question, but do you know me at all? Have we met at all?” he asked._ _

__Satella cocked her head to the side and looked at him questioningly before answering. “I’m sorry, but I ’ve never seen you before.”_ _

__“Y-yeah, I expected that. Sorry for bothering. I’m just a little out of sorts. I’ll just be on my way.”_ _

__An unsettling feeling of unrest swept over Lendrz followed by sharp disappointment when he realized that the girl he had grown to like quite well had completely forgotten him._ _

__“Are you sure you’re okay? I know healing magic if you’re injured.” Satella leaned forward with a concerned look on her face._ _

__Lendrz waved her concern away. “No, I’m fine. I just need some time to think. Thanks anyway.”_ _

__Lenrdrz hurried past Satella, not giving her a chance to stop him. He turned the corner and ducked into an alleyway out of Satella’s sight. Once he was sure she wasn’t trying to follow him, Lendrz sighed and leaned against the wall._ _

___Looks like I really did go back in time and no one remembers me. Well, I’m alive at the moment, so there’s that. But who the fuck killed me in that house? Really don’t want to push it and find out if I’ll come back to life a second time. What am I going to do about Satella? Even without my help, she’ll probably find her way to that house and be killed._ _ _

__Lendrz considered leaving her to her fate but quickly dismissed it. He had made fast friends with the silver-haired girl, even if she didn’t remember him or even know his name this time around. He had to make sure she wouldn't be killed today._ _

___First things first, I have to find out more about that warehouse. After Satella is safe, I can see about getting me a magic teacher and move on. Maybe there’s even a way to go back home with magic. The best course of action would be to find out who keeps the peace around here. I would prefer to avoid another encounter. Satella said this place was the capital, so there’s bound to be some kind of law enforcement here._ _ _

__“Well, what do we have here,” a familiar voice rang out._ _

__Lendrz grimaced before turning around to face the gang of punks that had confronted him a life ago. There stood the punks who attempted to mug him, slowly approaching Lendrz._ _

__“Wow, it’s you guys again. I didn’t realize I walked into the same ally as before,” Lendrz said with a slight frown._ _

__“What are you talking about? We’ve never seen you before,” the fat one said_ _

__"I don’t have time to waste on you three, so just get lost before I lose my patience,” Lendrz said irritably._ _

__“Who do you think you’re talking to!?” the short one shouted, getting ready for a fight._ _

__“I think I’m talking to a bunch of good for nothing thugs who should just turn around and leave if they know what’s good for them,” Lendrz hissed angrily, starting to tap his feet impatiently._ _

__“You gonna get it to know,” the fat one growled, cracking his knuckled and began getting closer followed closely by the other two._ _

__“You’re going to get it now,” the skinny one added, raising his knives threateningly._ _

__Lendrz hesitated before confronting the thugs. He hadn’t fought any of the inhabitants of this world before, so he didn’t know how durable these people were. As much as he despised these three, he would prefer to avoid killing them._ _

___Well, might as well kill two birds with one stone._ _ _

__Lendrz cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted with all his might._ _

__“Guards! Guards! Help, I’m being robbed!”_ _

__All three of them froze in their tracks with looks of shock etched upon their features._ _

__H-hey! What are you doing? Keep it down!” the fat one said frantically, raising his hand to try and stop him, but he didn’t take another step forward. The others were panicking in a similar way._ _

__“Come on! Just shut up!”_ _

__“Don’t call the guards._ _

__The four of them waited for the guards to come barreling into the alley… and waited… and waited, but no one came._ _

__“Ha! Looks like no one around to help you. We weren't worried at all,” the short one sighed in relief._ _

__“Not at all,” the skinny one added._ _

__“Now, back to business,” the fat one said as they continued their approach._ _

__Lendrz tsched as he braced himself for the fight. Hopefully, he wouldn’t accidentally kill any of them. Making a scene was the last thing he wanted to do right now. Before anyone could make the first move, a voice interrupted them from behind Lendrz._ _

__“That’s enough,” a cool, collective voice spoke out._ _

__The highblood turned around and saw a man not much older than him with standing confidently on the other side of the alley. He wore a white double-breasted coat with long coattails, a high popped out collar, and light purple trim over a black turtleneck. There was a golden shield insignia upon his left bicep. Black gloves covered his hands and belt with a golden buckle. An elegant sword hung from his belt. All he could see was the hilt, the blade in a white scabbard with intricate golden embossment. It had a golden hilt that ended with a spike, and that was all that he could see. His eyes were an intense crystal blue and his hair was fiery red hair. A small confident smile was across his handsome face._ _

__It seemed the trio of thugs recognized this man. When they spoke, their voices were trembling with fear._ _

__“That red hair.”_ _

__“And a golden knight’s sword.”_ _

__“It can’t be Reinhard? The legendary swordsman Reinhard.”_ _

__Reinhard slowly almost leisurely began walking towards the group. “Seems I don’t need to introduce myself, though that whole title is a bit much. I don’t know if my strength will be enough for all three of you. However, if you three do intend to fight, as a night I will have to defend myself,” he finished as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword._ _

__“Screw this! Let’s get out of here!” the fat one said. All three of them turned tail and ran, stumbling over themselves in their hurry to get away._ _

__After watching the three thugs tun with their tails tucked between their tails, Lendrz turned to thank his savior._ _

__“Thanks for the help. Reinhard was it? The legendary swordsman? I know I asked for help, but I didn’t know I warranted a legendary swordsman,” Lendrz thanked, extending a hand to him._ _

__Reinhard accepted his hand and shook. “It was nothing. If it were just me, things might have gone differently. If you would, please just call me Reinhard. My title is part of my family, and I’m afraid I often don’t live up to their expectations, he said, a sad look appearing on his face. The look disappeared just as quickly as it appeared as a smile found its way on his face again._ _

__“Well, who you are doesn’t matter to me. Just glad you helped me out.”_ _

__Reinhard’s smile widened. “I’m happy to be of service,” he answered._ _

__“This might sound a bit odd, but there's-” Lendrz caught himself before he said anything else. What was he going to say? That he had been killed and somehow had been resurrected back in time? How else could he expalain how he knewThey would think he was insane!_ _

__“What was that?” Reinhard inquired._ _

__

__“Nevermind, it was nothing. Just thanks again for the help. I’m sure you have places to be. I know I do, so I won’t keep you,” Lendrz wished Reinhard farewell as he walked back into the street._ _

___Looks like the guards are out of the question unless I can get a reasonable solution to get their help without making him look suspicious. If I want to help Satella, I’ll have to do it by myself at the moment. I know how the thief looks, but not their name. I know where their hideout is located, and that there’s someone guarding it. Eventually, someone will kill the guard and I don’t know about the thief. My best bet is to try and beat both the murder to the hideout and “convincing the pair to hand over the insignia before the murder arrives. The thieve shouldn't be a problem, but the guard was pretty big. I don’t know how strong the people are around here are, but I a highblood. I’m sure I can handle anything that man can throw at me. I won’t make the same mistake again._ _ _

__Lendrz hurried down the familiar streets to the foot house. Things would be different this time. He would make sure of it._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__The highblood was quickly approaching the safehouse. Just like he expected, he remembered the way exactly. The welcome wasn’t any warmer during the day than it was during the night. There were more people out and about, but everyone avoided him like the plague. Humans and inhumans, young and all were dressed in rags. That worked fine for Lendrz. He had a clear destination in mind, and he couldn't waste any time with any distractions._ _

__Lendrz turned a corner and bumped into another taller person. “Hey, watch where you’re going,” he said as he brushed himself off._ _

__“Oh my, you have sincerest apologies. I do hope you’re okay,” a very familiar feminine voice said._ _

__Lendrz’s head snapped up and he froze where he stood. That voice was the very same that he had heard in his past life. It was the voice of the woman who had gutted him and taunted him as she did it. The voice he wouldn't forget for a long time. Lendrz’s blood pusher threatened to leap out of his chest and his breath caught in his throat and his hand flew to cover his gut. His mind was screaming at him to move, but his muscles refused to move and he breathed with short ragged gasps._ _

__The woman in front of him was tall beautiful and scantily clad. She wore a tight black one piece that was split down the middle to just below her navel and stockings. Separate sleeves covered her arms. The odd clothing continued almost like a loincloth that ended with purple fur. She wore a long black cloak with a large purple fur collar. She wore black heels and a purple flower in her short hair with a braded ponytail to the side. She looked down at him with her beautiful, almost delicate features. Her emotionless, almost lifeless violet eyes stared into Lendrz’s own black ones._ _

__There was no mistaking it, this person, this beautiful monster was the same one that killed him in his past life. Despite the imminent danger, Lendrz couldn’t muster the will to move._ _

___Come on, move! If I can’t move, I’ll just die again!_ _ _

__“There’s no need to be afraid. I’m not going to do anything to you,” she said softly._ _

__Lendrz ground his teeth together harshly. Rage began to overcome fear as he looked at his past murderer. She had the gall to stab him in the back and taught him as she gutted him. His grip tightened on his staff._ _

__“I am not afraid of you,” Lendrz growled through his grinding teeth._ _

__“Oh, but you are. Your anger is so strong, it almost hides it. Almost. I can smell your fear, even if you try to hide it. Behind all that intense anger, there’s an even stronger fear. And all of it is directed at me, isn’t it? It’s almost intoxicating,” she said softly, almost a whisper as she licked her lips._ _

__Lendrz let out a deep growl from deep within his throat. He had enough of her coy His muscles tensed tightly, ready to defend himself once she made her move, but he kept his hand pressed to his gut._ _

__“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. At least, not right now. Lucky for you, I can’t afford to cause a commotion right now, even if I am curious. Farwell,” said as she continued past him._ _

__Lendrz growled again as she walked past him and muttered one last thing before she walked out of earshot._ _

__“You’ll get what’s coming to you eventually,” the highblood said softly, just loud enough where he sure the woman heard._ _

__The woman quickly rushed back to Lendrz, close enough where he could feel her warm breath across his face and smell her flowery perfume._ _

__“That’s right. Keep that resentment boiling within you. It only makes what’s coming all the sweeter,” she gently cooed as she pressed her hand to the hand covering his stomach._ _

__“Anyway, I need to get going. I’m sure we’ll meet each other soon,” she continued. “Until then, keep that resentment boiling inside you.”_ _

__She removed her hand from Lendrz’s and resumed her walk down the road. Lendrz watched her until she disappeared around a corner. Lendrz swallowed the lump in his throat once he was sure that the woman was gone and wasn’t coming back. Through the entire conversation, Lendrz had his hand pressed his stomach, the pain of being gutted still fresh in his mind. He scowled, irritated that he had frozen like that. If she had actually tried to kill him again, she would have likely been successful._ _

___There’s no mistaking it. That’s the woman who killed me. She was at the loothouse during the night, but she heading the wrong right now. I don’t know why she comes into the loothouse or why she kills that big guy during the night. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get the insignia and leave before she arrives. Or I can try to intercept the thief before she makes it to her loothouse. I could try to find where she lives, but she probably will try to get rid of the insignia as soon as possible, so that could just be a big waste of time. My best bet is still the loothouse._ _ _

__Lendrz continued to the loothouse. The sooner he had the insignia and was out of here, the better._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__Here he was, just like he was here on his previous life. The building was just as rickety and run down as it was the last time. Lendrz stepped closer to the door and reached out to knock, but hesitated._ _

___This is insane! I’m right back to where I was gutted. There’s no way this will end well, but I don’t have much choice. Getting ahold of the insignia is my best bet to get a decent start in this world. If I come out of this empty-handed, I better get comfortable around here. I won't have many options to choose from The insignia also seems very important to Satella. Helping her out is an added bonus._ _ _

__Ignoring the uneasy stirring within his hut, Lendrz finally knocked._ _

__“Who’s there!?” a deep gruff voice called out from within the building._ _

___Good. The man’s still alive._ _ _

__“I’m here to make a deal,” Lendrz called through the door._ _

__There was rustling and heavy footsteps approaching the door. The person threw the door open and stared down at Lendrz. The troll was taken back when he saw the dark-skinned giant again. The last time he had seen the man was when he was long dead and gutted. It was jarring seeing the dead man alive and without a drop of blood on him despite expecting it._ _

__The man was towered over Lendrz, but still not quite as tall as adult highbloods. A short tattered jacket was worn over a short blue short, leaving his chest and stomach bare. Equally ragged pants covered his legs. White hair covered his chest and forams. A chain was warped around him from hip to shoulder and a red cloth was wrapped around his waist like his belt. He was broad shouldered and every part of him was covered with thick muscles. The top of his head was completely bald with a light red tattoo curled on the side of his head and similar tattoos wrapped around his wrist and back of his hands. A few large, but faint scars were scattered around his bodies, such as an x on his right shoulder and three diagonal scars on his left forearm. His long droopy eyebrows had colorful beads braided into them._ _

__“Who are you? What do you want? You don’t even know the password,” the man asked in a deep rough voice, still strong, but slightly cracked with age. His eyes looked him over suspiciously._ _

__“Like I said I’m here to deal. There’s an insignia that you either have or will have soon. I’ll be willing to negotiate for it,” Lendrz answered._ _

__The large man looked him over once again. “You’re not the buyer, are you? And how do you know about the insignia?” the man questioned._ _

__“My name is Lendrz Ridrez, and I’m someone who wants that insignia. Your other buyer isn’t here either, but I am. Isn’t that all you need to know?” Lendez retorted._ _

__The man stared at him for a few seconds longer. “Fine step inside,” he said, stepping aside to allow Lendrz in. “I’m called Rom, by the way,” he added._ _

__Lendrz entered the safehouse. It was just like he remembered, with weapons and all kinds of valuables were stashed everywhere. Lendrz noticed a few stools by the bar and took a seat. The giant closed the door behind him before stepping behind the counter._ _

__“Nice place. You live here?” Lendrz asked._ _

__“Nah, no one lives here. This is just a safehouse. You want anything to drink kid?” Rom asked as he grabbed a large jug from under the counter and took a large swig._ _

__“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass,’ answered Lendrz, eying Rom as he greedily chugged from the jug. A light pink began to spread across his cheeks as he drank._ _

__“Suit yourself,” he said before taking another drink. “It’s Lendrz, right? How’d you hear about the insignia? It was a private contract._ _

__Lendrz had to stop himself from clucking in irritation. He had to think of something fast. “Does it really matter? All you need to know is that I’m a paying customer,” Lendrz answered._ _

__Rom gave a great rumbling laugh and his large shoulders shook up and down. “I guess I don’t. Speaking of which, what are you gonna pay for the insignia,” he said once he calmed down. “Felt isn’t here right now. Just wait outside until she comes back unless you feel like looking or her yourself. But, if she doesn’t want to be found, you’re outta luck.”_ _

__Lendrz frowned. Being a highblood, Rom dismissing him like he was a nobody was unfamiliar. He thought about protesting but decided against it. The day was still young and Lendrz wanted some time to think. He stood from his seat at the bar and stepped out into the slums._ _

__The highblood took a seat on the stairs leading into the hideout. He closed his eyes and basked in the pleasant warmth of the sun. Not being roasted alive in seconds was a pleasant change of pace from Alternia._ _

___So, the thief's name is Felt. The sooner she gets here the better. That scum that gutted me the first time is around here somewhere. At some point, she’s going to come here and kill everyone in this house, so I need to take the insignia before she comes here. I have no idea where Felt is right now. Unless I feel like searching the entire slums for her, waiting in here is my best bet._ _ _

__The highblood felt the warm sun on his skin as he waited leaned back and waited for Felt._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__“Hey, you’re blocking my way!” a familiar voice shouted._ _

__Lendrz lazily opened one eye and found the same blond girl that ran by him in the ally, the thief known as Felt. He stood up and brushed himself off and looked off into the sky. Lendrz had almost dozed off as he was waiting for her. The sun was almost beginning to set, bathing the slums with golden light._ _

__“Don’t just ignore me! Who are you and what are you doing here?” she demanded, stamping a foot as she shouted._ _

__“My name is Lendrz Ridrez, and I’m here to trade for that insignia you’re carrying,” Lendrz finally answered. “I’ve already talked to the big man inside.”_ _

__Felt continued to eye Lendrz suspiciously for a little while longer before relenting. “Fine. Now, move out of the way!”_ _

__Lendrz nodded and stepped aside to allow her past. She walked up to the door and knock sharply twice. The great deep voice of Rom spoke from behind the door._ _

__“For a rat?” Rom asked._ _

__“Poison,” Felt answered without skipping a beat._ _

__“For a white whale?”_ _

__“A harpoon.”_ _

__“And to the noble dragon, we are?”_ _

__“Shitbags.”_ _

__Lendrz couldn’t help but give a small chuckle the last part of the riddle. “That was a good one,” the highblood said as Rom opened the door to let the pair in._ _

__“Sorry about the wait old man. The target was more persistent than expected,” Felt said as she entered with Lendrz following behind. “It took me a while to shake them.”_ _

__Felt made a beeline to the bar and sat down on one of the stools. Rom lumbered behind the bar and poured her a glass of milk from a bottle under the counter. In his hand, the cup looked like a teacup for a toy. Felt took the cup and took a smile sip. That small sip was all it took to make the little thief to frown._ _

__“Hey, old man Rom, did you water down this milk?” Felt asked, pushing away the cup._ _

__“I give you something outta the goodness of my heart, and you call it gross?” Rom said in an overly dramatic fashion. He reached a massive hand across the table and gently ruffled Felt’s hair. She tried to remove his hand, but even without any force behind Rom’s hand, she couldn’t even budge the arm an inch._ _

__The sight of Rom’s playful teasing reminded Lendrz of a lusus and their troll. Lendrz felt a heavy pit in the bottom of his stomach. He wondered if he would ever find a way back home to see his lusus one day or one of the few trolls he could stand to talk to._ _

__“You two really get along, don’t you?” asked Lendrz after Rom finally removed his hand much to Felt’s relief._ _

__“Well, old man Rom did raise since I was a kid,” Felt answered._ _

__“Really? Thit guy managed to raise someone,” Lendrz laughed, imagining the old giant actually managing to take care of a younger Felt._ _

__The troll had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that people of this world took care of their own. He was also sure that Rom wasn’t Felt’s ancestor. It was even more baffling that anyone would bother raising random wrigglers._ _

__Rom grunted and eyed Lendrz and Felt suspiciously. “You two aren’t in some conspiracy to piss me off aren’t you?” he asked._ _

__“Okay, let’s get back to business, shall we. How much are you willing to pay for it?’ asked Felt_ _

__“Before we go any further, I’d like to see the insignia myself,” Lendrz countered._ _

__“Sure. No problem, bro,” Felt said. She reached into her back pocket and showed Lendrz the insignia._ _

__This was the first time Lendrz had actually seen the insignia himself. It was smaller than Lendrz expected, about the size of a large marble. It was made up of smooth black stone and triangular shaped. There was a simple roaring golden dragon design upon its face. There was a bright red glowing gem coming from the mouth of the dragon._ _

__Lendrz nodded and reached into his pocket to retrieve his pocket husk, but hesitated for a moment. His pocket husk was his only line of communication with any of his old friends. At this point, he was willing to talk to Terezi or even Vriska. Even thinking about having to ask that troll for help left a foul taste in his mouth. On the other hand, it was completely useless in this word. Finally, he took the pocket husk and showed it to the man._ _

__“I don’t have any money, but I’m willing to trade with this. I’m sure you won’t find anything like this in the entire world.,” Lendrz said as he presented him the pocket husk._ _

__Rom took the pocket husk from Lendrz and examined it curiously. He turned it over in his hands but couldn’t help figure out what it is. Lendrz was afraid that he would accidentally crush the pocket husk to pieces, but he was surprisingly gentle._ _

__“What is this?” asked Rom as he handed it back to Lendrz._ _

__“It an enchanted item,” Lendrz said, struggling to keep his eyes from rolling. “It has the power to capture images and record them inside of itself. Here, let me show you how it works.”_ _

__Lendrz pushed the power button and opened the camera application. Felt and Rom leaned in close. Lendrz pointed it to the pair. The flash lit up Rom’s and Felt’s faces and the camera clicked. Both of them recoiled from the sudden light._ _

__“Hey, what was that?” Felt demanded, shielding her eyes._ _

__“What’s that sound. It’s too bright,” Rom said, covering his eyes with one massive hand._ _

__“Relax. I’m just showing you how it works,” Lendrz said waving off their concerns. He looked over the picture and stifled a giggle. Felt was wide-eyed and her eyes had a bright pink light within them. Rom was leaned in close and his eyes were focused directly on the camera lens. Lendrz showed them the picture to the pair._ _

__“And here it is,” Lendrz said. “A perfect image displayed right here.”_ _

__“Wow, that’s amazing!” exclaimed Felt.”_ _

__“I’ve never seen anything like that. It must be one of Metia I’ve been hearing about lately, right?” Rom asked._ _

__“What exactly is a metia?” asked Lendrz._ _

__“It’s just the name people call devices that let people who perform magic without using their gate, just like real mages,” Rom answered as he raised his hand to his chin._ _

__“I don’t care about any of that,” Felt added. “All I care about is how much I can sell it for!”_ _

__“I don’t know how much this is for sure. This is my first time seeing a metia, but I’d say you could get at least twenty holy coins for it,” Rom answered._ _

__Upon hearing the value of the pocket husk, Felt’s eyes lit up. “Twenty holy coins! That’s twice what my contractor said they’ll pay!” Felt shouted gleefully._ _

__Lendrz sighed, relieved that the pocket husk was enough to get the insignia back. “Now with that cleared up, I’ll just take that insignia off your hands and be on my way,” Lendrz said as he reached for the insignia still in Felt’s hand. Before he could take it, Felt moved out of Lendrz’s reach._ _

__“Not so fast!” Felt shouted._ _

__“Hey, what’s the big idea? You heard what the old man. The metia is worth twice what your original buyer is offering. I don’t see why you don’t want to make the deal,” Lendrz said, growing frustrated at the thief's sudden refusal._ _

__“Hey, you’re not the only one negotiating for the insignia. I want to see if my other buyer is willing to up her price. Besides, I was asked to steal it by her in the first place,” Felt countered._ _

__Lendrz rolled his eyes. ‘Fine. When is your buyer gonna show? The sooner we get this over with, the better,” he said._ _

__“Don’t worry about that. The negotiations will take place here anyway. That way, I have old man Rom here in case the client tries anything funny,” she said, gesturing the giant._ _

__Two knocks interrupted them. Rom looked to the door and asked, “Does the buyer know the password.”_ _

__“Oh, I didn’t mention it. Still, that’s probably them. I’ll be right back,” she said as she stood from her seat and began making her way to the door._ _

__“So, you’re the muscle between the two,” Lendrz stated rather than asked._ _

__‘There’s a little more to it than that,” Rom said. “We’ve known each other long time,” The giant reached past the array of weapons and took a club big enough to dwarf some smaller people. He hid it underneath the counter within reach._ _

__“I’m sure you noticed this isn’t exactly the nice part of town. Everyone 'round here does whatever they can to survive. It’s hard to make alone, so lots of people band together. Felt’s tough, but not tough enough to make it on her own. That’s why I gotta look out for her,” Rom answered._ _

___In that regard, this place isn’t too different from Alternia. Back home, friendship is largely a means of survival._ _ _

__“I was right. It’s the buyer,” Felt called out as she approached and sat back down._ _

__Lendrz turned to get a look at who the buyer was. What he saw made his blood freeze. Stepping through the door was none other than Elsa, the woman who gutted and killed him._ _

__“It looks like there are outsiders here,” Elsa said, looking over Rom and Lendrz. When her eyes met Lendrz’s, she licked her lips._ _

__“Well, if you tried to cheat me, I’d be in big trouble. Weaklings like me gotta think ahead,” Felt said confidently as she rested her hands behind her head._ _

__“I know the older man, but who exactly is the horned one,’ Elsa said, her eyes never leaving Lendrz._ _

__“He’s your competition,” Felt answered. “He also wants the insignia and made a good offer.”_ _

__Elsa continued staring with an almost doll-like expression._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__The four of them were seated together at a small table. Elsa had just finished off a cup of milk Rom had provided and licked her lips while the highblood kept his staff on his lap. Lendrz and Elsa were on opposite sides and felt and Rom were seated in the same fashion. Lendrz felt uneasy being so close to the sadistic murder, be he refused to give Elsa the satisfaction of seeing him squirm. Elsa merely sat with a small smile on her face. With a confident voice, Felt was the one to open negotiations._ _

__“Both of you want the insignia, so you’ll have to bid for it. I don’t really care who gets it, so it goes to the highest bidder,” Felt explained._ _

__“Understood. Let’s get this over with,” Lendrz said as he placed his pocket husk on the table._ _

__“That right there is a rare piece of metia that can copy images in real life and show them in itself. It’s worth about twenty holy coins,” Rom explained._ _

__“I see,” she said without any concern or surprise in her voice. “As it happens, my employer has given me some extra funds just in case something came up.”_ _

__“Wait a minute, employer? That means you don’t even want the insignia for yourself,” Lendrz asked._ _

__“Correct. It’s my client that wants it. I’m afraid I’m not very interested in such baubles myself,” Elsa answered._ _

__“Your competition is in the lead. I can sell the metia for way more than ten holy coins. How much can you pay?” Felt said._ _

__Elsa reached into her cloak and retrieved a small burlap sack. She upturned the sack and allowed the contents to spill onto the table. Shining silver coins with dragons and trees etched upon their faces fell into a small pile. The sight of the pile made Lendrz second guess the strength of his deal. He assumed all of those coins were holy coins._ _

__Felt gasped loudly when she saw the coins, but didn’t say anything else. Rom seemed unfazed by the pile of coins. He calmly sorted the coins into stacks of five._ _

__“Twenty holy coins exactly,” Rom said._ _

__“This is all the money my employer gave to me,’ Elsa said. “Is it enough?”_ _

__Lendrz scowled and crossed his arms, but Rom interrupted him. “Don’t make that face. Be a man. Your metia is worth at least twenty holy coins. Chances are, Felt can sell it for a bit more. You’re still the winner. Sorry to tell you this, but you better pack up your coins and go.”_ _

__The highblood let out a deep breath, but he still refused to relax. From his past life, he knew that she murders everyone anyway. Elsa stood up, the same doll-like smile never leaving her face even when she lost._ _

__“It seems I’ve lost. Well, it’s my employer’s fault for trying to underpay, but I’ll take my leave now,” she said. “By the way, what do you plan to do with the insignia?_ _

__“I don’t think it’s very wise to tell someone what you plan to do with stolen property,” Lendrz answered, watching her for any sudden movements._ _

__“What a shame. I guess I’ll never know what you’ll do with it know,” Elsa responded. As soon as she finished her sentence, the room seemed to stand still and no one made a sound. She reached into her cloak and Lendrz saw something glint in the dim candlelight. Lendrz reacted fast and jumped out away from Elsa, narrowly avoiding a blinding fast swing from her dagger. Both Rom and felt jumped back as well once Elsa made her intentions clear._ _

__Else had her arm straight out. In her hand was a large strange dagger shining in the light. It had a curved hilt. The purple and black blade was thin at the hilt but widened greatly the further it was._ _

__“Oh my, you actually managed to dodge. You’re faster than you look,” Elsa said almost casually with a wide smile and her eyes shadowed from the light._ _

__Before anyone else could make a move, Rom retrieved his club from behind the counter and charged at Elsa, shouting angrily as he did. The smile faded from Elsa’s face as Rom charged. Rom swung his giant staff with incredible strength, but Elsa gracefully jumped out of harm’s way. The giant crushed the table and chairs where Elsa stood only a moment before. Elsa jumped from table to table, avoiding every one of Rom’s swings as he continued his assault. The loot house shook with every strike and the sound was like a rockslide. His club shattered everything it struck._ _

__“I’m so excited. This is my first battle to the death with a giant,” Elsa said giddily._ _

__“Quite, little girl. I’ll grind you up and fee you to the rats! Rom shouted as he swung again, only for Elsa to jump out of the way once again._ _

__Else was running out of room to move. Rom’s relentless assault was forcing her closer and closer a wall. She began blocking his attacks. Sparks flew in every direction every time their weapons met, but Elsa managed to take the force of his strength without faltering._ _

__Lendrz growled, gathering his energy into his staff, despite the risk of burning the house down. The staff glowed a gentle purple, but with Rom and Elsa fighting so erratically, it was too risky to try to land a hit. There was a temptation to run, but Lendrz ignored it. If Elsa did not die today, there would always be a risk of her tracking him down. She didn’t seem like the type to leave loose ends. Felt, on the other hand, didn’t seem worried at all._ _

__“Don’t worry. There’s no way Rom can lose,” she said confidently._ _

__Rom readied one huge swing, putting his entire body into the effort. Elsa simply stood still and allowed him to wind up._ _

__“Take this!” Rom shouted as he put everything into this one strike. He swung downward to crush her entire body in one attack._ _

__Elsa smiled as she twirled to the side and used the force behind the swing to severe his giant arm in one swing. The large severed arm flew through the air and landed with a loud thud. Blood splattered all over the room, splattering Felt and Lendrz with the warm liquid._ _

__“Old man Rom!”_ _

__Seeing the giant disabled so easily brought Felt to her knees. Lendrz’s eyes widened and his grip on his staff slackened. Elsa had just sliced Rom’s arm off without any effort. For a moment, Lendrz though that the giant could have won._ _

__Despite losing an arm, Rom still stood. He was panting heavily as the blood gushed from the bloody stump._ _

__“Dam it,” Rom gasped raggedly._ _

__“Oh, I almost forgot,” Elsa said to herself, ignoring the scene before her._ _

__“I can take you with me!” Rom shouted as he charged, his one remaining arm poised to strike._ _

__Elsa stood still and allowed the giant to charge her. When he was within reach, Elsa simply raised the shattered cup that she had drank milk from earlier and stabbed it deep into his throat,_ _

__“Thank you for the milk,” Elsa said with a smile._ _

__Rom manages to stay on his feet for a few seconds, gasping and struggling. His giant body twitched and blood gushed from his mouth before he finally collapsed onto his back and lied still._ _

__“I shall return this,” she said as she set the bloodstained glass on the ground by her feet._ _

__“You bitch! How dare you!” Felt shouted both rage and sadness were heavy in her voice. She roses to her feet and clenched her hands into fists._ _

__“You two are still here? I was so wrapped up with the giant, I almost forgot about you two. It’s a shame things had to go this way,” Elsa said nonchalantly as she leveled the blade at the remaining pair with the same smile she often wore. Lendrz was beginning to really hate that smile. He tightened his grip on his staff and pressed his sharp claws into his palm. Cold purple blood leaked his hand and dripped to the floor._ _

__“Like you didn’t intend to kill us anyway, you psychopath,” Felt growled under her breath. She rubbed some of Rom’s blood off her face as she glared as Elsa._ _

__Elsa twirled her blades in her hands so fast they appeared as black and purple blurs. “Don’t bother trying to resist or my hand might slip. Despite what you saw, I’m not very good with knives,” she taunted. Her blades stopped and she made stabbing motions at the pair._ _

__Felt didn’t say a word. Instead, in an explosion of wind, she dashed forward blindingly fast. In a fraction of a second, she appeared on Elsa’s side._ _

__“Blessing of wind,’ Elsa said without any fear or surprise in her voice. “My, you are truly loved by this world. I envy you.”_ _

__Felt drew her dagger and slashed downward, but Elsa simply sidestepped the strike. Elsa raised her own blade and prepared to finish her off. Before she could actually strike, a flaming purple bolt flashed across the room and would have struck Elsa if she had not jumped out of the way. The bolt cut through the wooden wall and the flames began to spread._ _

__Felt and Elsa turned to see Lendrz with his face contorted with rage and his hand outstretched and palm facing Elsa. The yellow of his eyes was beginning to darken to a deep red. Fear had been completely replaced by rage._ _

__“It seems our friend here has finally decided to join us. Maybe you aren’t as much as a coward as I thought,” Elsa taunted._ _

__“Step aside, Felt,” Lendrz growled through his teeth. “I’ll tear this motherfucker apart!”_ _

__Lendrz charged Elsa and his staff toward her head, but she ducked under his swing. She responded with a quick swipe at his gut. Lendrz jumped back, feeling the blade cut through his clothing, but not his flesh. Lendrz channeled energy into his free hand and thrust it forward. A small purple explosion blasted from his hand. Elsa flipped over Lendrz, avoiding the explosion and landed gracefully behind Lendrz. The flames began to spread more and more across the loothouse._ _

__Before Lendrz could react, Elsa buried her blade deep into Lendrz side. He gasped as he felt the cold steel and spun around, swinging his staff as he did so. Elsa easily dodged the wild strike._ _

__Lendrz and Elsa began to circle each other. The smile never left Elsa’s face. Lendrz’s teeth were bared and a deep growl was coming from Lendrz’s throat. Dark purple blood flowed from the stab wound in his side and stained his clothing, but he was unfazed by it. His eyes were completely red by now. His pupils were two small dots in a sea of red, completely consumed with rage. When Elsa noticed the purple blood begin to drip through his shirt, a bright pink spread across her face._ _

__‘Oh my, such a beautiful shade of purple~ I can’t wait to see you entrails,” Elsa almost sang and she stared at Lendrz’s stomach._ _

__Elsa charged forward. Lendrz charged his staff with purple flame and swung, but Elsa easily dodged and sank her blade deep inside his gut. With a growl, Lendrz swiped at her face with his free hand. Elsa high into the air and ripping the blade from his gut painfully. She flipped through the air and landed with her back to Lendrz._ _

__“It seems I was careless,” Elsa said casually. “She turned to face Lendrz, revealing four claw marks racking across her face. Seeing the blood flow down her face brought him a primal satisfaction and a sharp smile to his face. He wanted to see more of it and everywhere._ _

__Elsa licked some of the blood that trailed down to her lips. “This just got interesting,” she said. “I don’t care if you kill me. Just don’t disappoint me.” She gave Lendrz her own sadistic smile._ _

__“Enough talking. Just killing,” Lendrz hissed angrily._ _

__Elsa charged forward, but Lendrz didn't bother trying to dodge. She raised her blade, but Lendrz still didn't move. The assassin plunger her blade deep into his gut. Instead of pulling away, Lendrz grunted and wrapped his hand tightly around Elsa’s hand. She tried to pull away, but he refused to give an inch. Elsa reached into her cloak and pulled out another blade. She stabbed at Lendrz’s throat. He dodged to the side without letting go, but not far enough. The blade bit deep into his shoulder._ _

__“I hope this hurts!” Lendrz shouted, raising his staff to Elsa. Before she could dodge, Lendrz channeled his psionic energy through his staff and exploded it outwards. Elsa only had time to gasp before the explosion sent her crashing through the wooden wall._ _

__Lendrz stepped through the smoldering hole into the night and pulled the knife out of his shoulder. The flames had almost consumed the loothouse by this point, illuminating the darkness with bright light. The highblood scanned the area, looking for Elsa. He spotted a blast mark in the dirt, but the assassin was nowhere to be found._ _

__“Shit! She got away,” Lendrz growled. “I really would have liked to see that bitch burn!”_ _

__“Is she gone?” a small voice asked from beside Lendrz._ _

__Lendrz turned his head to see Felt standing just outside the hole in the building. The same little girl who was foolish enough to make a deal with Elsa. The same girl who refused to sell him the amulet despite the fact that he made a better offer. In fact, she was the one who stole the insignia in the first place._ _

__“This is all your fault, isn’t?” Lendrz said coldly._ _

__“Wait, what,” Felt asked with fear in her voice as she stepped away from Lendrz. Her face was wrought with grief and fear._ _

__“You heard me. All of this? It’s all your fault,” Lendrz said, turning to face Felt with a feral snarl on his face. He began stepping closer to her. “You made the deal with Elsa, you stole the insignia. Like I said. It’s all. Your. Fault.”_ _

__Soon Lendrz was looming over Felt, but he noticed something glittering in her eyes. The light of the fire caused a clear watery liquid to glint in the night. It took a moment for Lendrz to realize that Felt was crying._ _

___This isn’t right. Felt doesn’t doesn’t deserve this._ _ _

__Lendrz’s shoulders sank and his snarl faded. The rage that had driven him was now fading “Listen, I’m s-”_ _

__A large icicle slammed into Lendrz’s hand, knocking the staff away from him. Lendrz bared his teeth and whipped around to find his attacker, his rage reignited. Standing some distance from him was a silver-haired girl. She seemed oddly familiar to Lendrz, but the rage clouded his mind too much to think straight. One of her hands was raised to Lendrz. Felt took the distraction to disappeared in a burst of wind._ _

__“Who the fuck are you to dare raise a hand against me!?” Lendrz bellowed, staring into her violet eyes._ _

__The girl ignored his demand. “Step away from the girl,” she calmly demanded. “If you surrender peacefully, I won’t harm you.”_ _

__Lendrz spat in her direction. “An inferior telling their superior what to do? Here’s my proposal. How about you scream nice and loud for while I tear you limb from limb? Does that sound nice?” the highblood growled._ _

__“Just look at yourself. You can barely stand.”_ _

__Lendrz glanced downwards. During the fight, he had been stabbed multiple times. Most of his clothing was ripped to shreds. What was left was soaked with cold purple blood._ _

__“Shut up!. I’m well enough to kill you,” Lendrz hissed._ _

__“As you wish,” the silver-haired girl. The air around her began to drop in temperature and ice began to form. Lendrz only laughed in response._ _

__“You really think ice can stop my fire? I don’t even need my staff.” Lendrz taunted._ _

__Lendrz formed a purple fireball in his palm and flicked it towards the girl. She reacted fast and jumped out of range of the explosion. Lendrz launched fireball after fireball at the girls, but she avoided everyone. His head began to ache, and his limbs felt like they were made of lead. It seemed the earlier fight had drained him more than he expected._ _

__After ducking under a fireball that almost took off her head, the girl quickly formed and launched an icicle at Lendrz’s feet. It struck the earth between his feet. Instead of shattering, the ice began to spread very quickly. Within a matter of seconds, Lendrz’s feet were rooted to the floor with ice._ _

__“Shit!” Lendrz exclaimed._ _

___How can she beat me!? This isn’t the way it was supposed to happen!_ _ _

__Lendrz tried to pull his feet from the ice, but he was far too weak to do so. It continued to climb higher and higher. The cold felt like needles stabbing into his flesh as it spread. Lendrz had abandoned his offense and attempted to try to channel his flame through his frozen flesh, but his energy was too drained to muster up even a spark. Lendrz reached down to try and break the ice around his legs, but his hands became rooted in the ice the second they touched it. The ice had reached past his stomach and showed no sign of stopping. The sound of footsteps made him look up to see the silver-haired girl approaching. She stood before him with a steadfast expression._ _

__“I hope that you find peace,” was all she said._ _

__Before Lendrz could even say anything in response, she laid her hand across his cheeks almost gently. Her hand was freezing and ice began spreading across his face and the rest of his body. Soon, Lendrz was covered completely with ice. The cold was all consuming. It was all that he was he could think about, overpowering his rage. Slowly, his rage dissipated completely._ _

__The cold was all he could feel, all he could think about. Slowly, even the feeling of the cold began to fade. Soon, even the cold faded away. And then there was nothing._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I was actually planning to have Lendrz kill Elsa initially, but I wanted to save his first kill for the main story. Didn't want to reveal that part of his character in the spin-off.
> 
> Sorry for the wait, but lots of real life stuff got in the way. I had finals and then the holidays rolled around and a bunch of my family stayed for a while. School has started again, but I'll try to get the next chapter out as fast as I can. The next chapter will be a Frizdt chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Well? What do ya think? I think that it came across as...sloppy, mainly due that I'm writing from a sentient grub's perspective. Hopefully, the next chapters will be better. Speaking of chapters, this took a lot than expected.
> 
> Criticism is welcome. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie


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